Sinnoh Stories: The Legend of Volkner
by IanDonyer -ChrisAvrich
Summary: A young Volkner is thrown into a foreign world by supernatural forces; he is forced to find out just what did it, and what it wants of him.  \
1. Mystery

_Hey, guys! Chris here. This is a revised version of the original prologue. I've fixed up a few things, mainly; not much has changed, plotwise. Enjoy..._

**Sinnoh Stories: The Legend of Volkner**

**PROLOGUE**

**Mystery**

"... B-but, mom," the child protested. "It's boring here! I don't want to do what normal kids do; I ain't a normal kid!" He spoke with his arms folded over his thin and bony chest, a sky blue shirt wet with sweat clinging against him. On his shoulder was a yellow mouse, black stipes decorating its neck and wrists, diamond-shaped ears perked up as it listened to the conversation. The child was careful in his position, for if he were to let the creature fall, his mother would kill him.

His mother's face was flushed, red as a ruby, frustration evident in her eyes. Sweat oozed from every pore, giving her skin a slimy coating. She seemed to be nervous, but the boy didn't know why - perhaps she was concerned about his welfare, or some other bullshit. He didn't know, but in all honesty, he could have cared less.

The dominant emotion in his mind right now was anger: anger at his mother for refusing to let him do what he had proposed. It was a simple thing. He would simply take the mouse on his shoulder and head out, explore the world as a Pokemon trainer. He hated the creatures, but doing this would help cure the chronic, fatal illness that had plagued him for his thirteen years on Earth.

The illness was called "boredom".

"Volkner," his mother whispered. To the boy - "Volkner" - it was a vile tone of voice ringing in his ears. The moment he heard it, he lowered his arms and clenched his fists, his blue eyes shimmering with an unprecedented rage. "You know I can't approve of this. The practice is sickening: it's considered sport to pit these innocent things up against each other in fights! It's horrible that the government even allows it."

Volkner, in his anger and the angst of his teenagerdom, wanted to punch her. But his small moral compass told him a firm, "no", for this woman was still his mother. Even if she was being totally unagreeable.

"Now, I don't want to hear any more of it, boy," she said sternly.

"But-"

"Up to your room, Volkner. You're grounded 'till you get this idea out of your head. Chuseph will stay with me."

He thrust a foot toward the floor of their home. He regretted it a moment later, as the marble was rather firm and painful to stomp on barefoot, but he did not flinch. It would be a sign of weakness, and weakness could not be shown right now.

"Chuseph, mom? Really? Not only is it a nickname for the dumb little bastard, but it's a fuckin' stupid one at that!" he exclaimed. "The _things _don't deserve nicknames. They're less than us. Learn your place, and learn theirs, mom!"

In a moment of sheer devilish plotting, Volkner thrust his shoulder outward, and felt the grip that Chuseph had on his shoulder fall to pieces and watched as the baby mouse Pokemon fell toward the floor.

"Watch, mom, watch!" he thought.

But there was a bit of a chink in his plan. He had forgotten about the tan and brown creature by his mother's side, Abster the Abra. The creature extended a thin-fingered hand, and suddenly, a blue light surrounded Chuseph, and the Pokemon was brought to a soft touch down next to Abster. Volkner scowled, once again stomping a foot firmly to the marble floor, ignoring the mild pain.

"Ugh, wish he would'a fell," Volkner said with a grin, purposefully antagonistic.

"... Your sentence has just been extended, boy," his mother chided. "You have two options: I'll give you a direct sentence, and you apologize to Chuseph, or you can stay in your room all day except to eat, use the bathroom, and to go to school until you -do- apologize. The choice is yours. You can't go blaming all Pokemon for what happened. It's like blaming the entire human race for when one man robs a bank. It's -stupid-. Now, make your choice."

"But mom," Volkner said, but found himself unable to come up with a counter argument - he had put himself into a stuck position, only able to let loose a sigh to signify his defeat. He was considering apologizing to the stupid little Pichu, but decided against it, for his ego was indeed at stake... there was no way he could possibly make a stand here and walk away still clutching it, for he was the one who spouted those words, and to deny them now would be sheer hypocrisy.

He knew she was right. He didn't care, though. What had happened was still the fault of Pokemon, and he would forever hate them for it. He was considering apologizing to the stupid little Pichu, but decided against it: he had said what he had said, trying to make a stand. To deny his words now and apologize, there would be no way he could walk off while still clutching his pride. It would be hypocrisy.

So he ran toward the steps close by, black boots connecting with the wooden surface thud after thud, hand gripping the rail tightly. It hurt, friction burning at his skin. He didn't care. But he stopped just moments before he would have disappeared from his mother's sight, and spoke in a clear tone of voice. He had been wanting to see these words since the moment he first heard the "no". It was a sequence of words that any mother would dread hearing, and he enjoyed every letter that slipped passed his lips. She deserved them for her constrictive values, which Volkner knew not to be true values at all.

"I hate you."

He curved around the corner once he reached the top of the steps, the brown sameness of the dirty hallway blurring past him in his peripherals. With a force only an angry teenager could produce, he slammed the door shut behind him, turning around for a moment only to lock it and then leap onto the bed, letting loose silent tears and mumbles of the frustration that pulsed through his veins. Only when he looked up through blurred eyes to the window outside did he stop crying long enough to notice her, perched upon his windowsill, her brow contorting her gaze to show her bewilderment.

He reached the top of the steps and curved around the corner, the brown sameness of the dirty walls in the hallway blurring past him in his peripheral vision as he dashed. He reached his room at the end of the hallway and skidded to a stop, walking through on shaky legs and slamming the door shut behind him. He turned around only for a moment to lock it, and then walked over to his window and stared out at the dull ocean view.

The port city of Olivine was always dull. It rained often. The ships brought loads of trainers that sickened Volkner; those types who had given love and affection to their Pokemon. The ships also contained sailors: alcoholic, foul mouthed people who Volkner despised. These types ran loose in the streets too. Most children in the school system now tended to stray from him, telling him that he had blood on his clothes that would never wash off.

He gripped the windowsill tightly and turned around. His shoes rested at the foot of his bed, and without even paying attention to the thought of socks, he slipped them on.

He had a plan. He was going to get out of this window, scale the side of the wall and run. He didn't care where he would go: nor did he care that it was raining outside, the dull pitter-patter of droplets pelting his window ringing through his ears. He turned around and placed his hands on the windowsill once again, before nodding to himself.

"You might want to put on a jacket, first," a voice said.

He turned around and wondered just how he hadn't noticed it. In front of him, sitting near the back of his bed and nestled between two pillows, was a girl. She was absolutely stunning, her hair flowing in long black strands down past her shoulders. Her eyes radiated a calm, soothing mood, a smile plastered upon her lips.

"Excuse me...?" Volkner asked. He was hesitant to speak: in his normal mood, he would be all over her in an instant, and in all truthfulness, his eyes WERE all over her. Her dress was white, almost see-through, and he wasn't about to ignore the opportunity to observe the merchandise she had to offer. But still, in his current mood, he was wary of doing more than that.

"It's cold out there, too. If you intend to go out, put on a jacket," she said.

Volkner blinked, and walked over to a coat rack in the corner of his room. He slipped on a darker, royal blue jacket to cover his sky blue shirt beneath.

The girl giggled. "You really do like blue, don't you, Volkner?"

A pulsation of fear raced through Volkner's body at that moment. She knew his name. Was this some sort of stalker? He braced himself, preparing to put up a fight.

"Relax," she said. It was as if she could sense the tension he felt. "Volkner, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so. I've come to help."

He relaxed a bit, as if her words were a legitimate reason to calm himself. He didn't know why he did... it was just as if she had this magical quality about her.

"What?" Volkner asked. "The hell do you mean?"

The girl patted the bed. "Sit," she said.

"Not until you-"

She patted it again, still smiling. "Please, I insist."

Volkner's legs moved on autopilot. He sat down right in front of her, sitting indian-style position, glaring at her eye-to-eye.

He couldn't last for long. His gaze softened until it was almost casual.

"I apologize," she said. "It's rude of me to call you by name without introducing myself first. My name is Mana. It's a pleasure, Volkner."

She leaned in closer, and Volkner did the same.

"I also apologize for my brevity. I'd explain a little further if I had the time," she whispered. Her tone sounded guilty.

Suddenly, the two of them leaned forward far enough for Mana to grab him and embrace him, planting a kiss tenderly on his cheek.

"So, yes," she whispered in his ear. "Sorry."

Volkner felt his world begin to spin: and he fell forward, going entirely limp. His face buried in her chest, but even as a pubescent boy, he had no time to enjoy it. His entire world was wrought with confusion, until finally, he felt his consciousness begin to slip away.

* * *

_Just wait, child,_

_For I will do you a great favor..._

_... as long as you do me one first._


	2. Haunting

**[AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I got a beta for this fic, but haven't gotten a response yet from her for two weeks. Going to go ahead and post this, assuming she's quit. If you have, RawkstarVienna, it's okay. If you haven't, let me know.]

* * *

**GREAT FAVOR: VOLKNER'S STORY**  
Chapter 1: Haunting

_A great favor...? What do you mean by that...?_

~ You need not worry, boy.  
Just wake. Wake now. Before it's- ~

As if on command to this strange, melodic voice that drifted through his unconscious mind, planting these words into his subconscious in the process, Volkner's eyes quickly peeled open. He recoiled, however, and shut them again just a moment later as sunlight struck him, hot and blinding, much more so than the sun in Olivine, and thus it immediately struck him that he wasn't quite there anymore. He slowly opened his eyelids this time to let the sun seep through at a steady, controlled rate.

Finally, he could open them all the way again.

What met his sight was an awfully clear sky, devoid of any clouds whatsoever... simply blue, for as far as the eye could see. Well, this excluded the variety of palm trees that dotted the sandy surface of whatever landmass he was on, tan colored trunks draped with downtrodden green leaves, a few fruits of some sort in which Volkner could not identify hanging beneath. He could taste gritty sand in his mouth, which he turned his neck to the side and spat out.

His arms and legs hurt tremendously, pain racing through his veins like a bullet train, unmatched by any previous agony present prior to now. But he needed to see if he could stand. If he didn't, or if worst came to worst, couldn't... well, he'd have to face that reality that when you lay alone in a strange, somewhat foresty looking place immobile as a child, it was basically sitting yourself on a silver platter, setting some lettuce around yourself, stuffing an apple in your mouth and screaming, "Hey, Persian and other fine beasties! It's an all-the-Volkner-you-can-eat buffet!".

Quickly, and thus painfully, Volkner flipped himself over onto his stomach, hands pressed with as much force as he could manage (which wasn't much) against the hot sand, and tried to push himself up to his feet. He immediately felt his legs begin their conversation on labor unions (because their boss was such an enormous ******* to them), but they worked all the same, giving him a staggering but present standing condition.

He took this time to examine his surroundings a slight bit better: nothing really new to see than from his grounded perspective, other than the fact that the area was indeed forested with these palm trees, a jungle of darkness hidden under the canopy, an intimidating sight but one he would have to deal with for a little while all the same. At least, this was his assumption... he was in a bit of a pessimistic, but,  
considering his situation, understandable mood.

Now his legs were straight and were definitely considering forming their little labor union, maybe going on strike soon, but for now they were cranking the gears of maximum efficiency the hardest they could to please the boss. Working arms, working legs, and a decently working head. Things were working out good enough so far; not quite into the "pleasant" range, but good enough for him to be able to think the situation through and then act on it.

Suddenly, it hit him.

He had been too groggy for a couple of minutes to realize the fact that he had only the slightest clue as to how he got here. That clue was a conniving, twisted little girl... a dot of malice in his mind by now, as she stood as one of the only possible explanations to his current predicament. Whatever she had done had knocked him unconscious - oh, right, the kiss, he thought. - and then she had thrown him here after doing something else to him... something to cause him pain like this.

But he supposed he didn't have quite the time to deal with it. If the girl popped up later, he would question her, try and figure out a way to get assistance for her had he not already gotten assistance from any people on this assumed island (assumed, because the half he was on was surrounded by ocean, but the possibility stood that he could also just be at the coast or a larger landmass).

First thing was first, he thought in his mind of minimal wildlife survival knowledge... a fire. Those were easy, weren't they? He just needed to rub two sticks together, and the fraction or fruction or whatever the flying feathers it was called would set it ablaze, a perfect source of warmth. That would work just fine, he told himself, as he stumbled across the beach, sandaled feet hitting the hot sand with a small crunching sound, and he slipped in through the trees to start up the only work he would try and do today: gather firewood.

"Why did I even try and THINK this would be easy?" the boy exclaimed, stumbling out of the wooded area, a pile of thin looking sticks bundled in his arms and pressed against his chest. His skin was dotted with a variety of different colors; red from the strain on his body, the blood rushed to his face... green from stains of trips through grass, smeared with the brown of soil. Scarlet from fresh blood. His hair was disheveled, and his overall appearance just seemed a total mess.

He had gotten attacked inside there.

There were indeed wild Pokemon here, as he had found out on his little search for firewood. He had been looking for any dropped branches, so he wouldn't have to climb and snap off anything (which he did eventually end up doing), when - god be damned - he just happened to a spot a small herd of Wild Pidgey. Now, as far as he knew, they weren't fighters... but they would protect their territories with their lives. It was someting his mother had told him when he was younger, and he was actually interested in the little animalistic, filthy creatures.

He had tried to leave quietly. They had all neglected to notice him, perched up in their tree. But he had stepped over a single branch, ironically, and the snapping brought this foreigner, big and tall compared to them, to their attention. They had attacked, fiercely, leaving Volkner to run with wood he had gathered so quickly that if he had been a cartoon his legs would be a twirling wheel beneath him, acting in a singular effort to propel him away from the danger.

_... too... _

The shitty part was that it wasn't even necessary for him to get the few injuries he currently had on him. He had just barely escaped the flock... he had run, backtracking through the territory he'd crossed without so much as a single injury because of his legs, running off of adrenaline, and their skillful - albeit painful - twists and leaps and various other contortions to get him through the perilous times. But, on his way out of the forest itself, he'd somehow managed to finally lose his footing and slam facefirst into the grass, gravel cutting his skin open, dirt and grass smearing him across his visible skin.

"...late," Volkner found himself mumbling then. He allowed himself to sit down and release the wood grasped against his chest, watching it all roll down into the sand with a strange allure. But, of course, another pulsation of pain rushed through his body and he forgot about this, wincing and rubbing at his aching joints. For what felt like about ten minutes or so, he sat there and allowed himself to relax, mind blank and thoughtless except for the increasing rhythmic pulsations of pain.

It got to the point where the pain was causing more than wincing, too. With each pulsation, he found himself feeling more and more of this before it finally let loose mild groans, then moans, then agonizing screams. His body was wracked with torturous pain, spasming every few seconds until he couldn't bare it any more and he just wanted to lay down and die.  
_  
~ ... I didn't want to do this ... ~_His eyes snapped open, and he observed her again.

"I'm sorry, Volkner," Mana whispered, her head craned down to look at the chronically pained boy. She seemed genuinely upset over his state... her face red, eyes seeming to echo a mild sorrow. Why, is what he wondered in the small sections of time which he could think coherently over the pain... a time span which was now gradually decreasing, as he observed her eyes, her gaze locked upon his and vice versa. "I thought you were strong enough... I thought I could let you wake up on your own. I guess I was wrong... it's okay. Let's get up now, for real - the source of your pain is a Gastly. It put you into a deeper sleep than I thought, and it's using a Nightmare attack... which is followed up by Dream Eater. You'll _die_. If you wake up, I've left you a gift."

Shocked and startled by this revelation, Volkner suddenly began to shout - shout at the top of his lungs, trying his hardest just to choke himself into consciousness.

A tactic which worked.

He awoke with a start, screaming and bolting up right, his hands moving to embrace himself in an effort to comfort his worsened state: the dream world was almost more pleasant, despite the nightmareish circumstances... suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Mana had said that if he woke up, she had left him a gift. What had she meant by that? He pondered this as he tried to stand, but his muscles were filled with fatigue. Thankfully not pain, but an overwhelming sense of insecurity in their ability, like he had just run a couple hundred miles and he would be forever crippled.

Why was THIS?

Another realization: the fatigue was from a Hypnosis attack, just beginning. The Gastly was still in the room with him. Watching as he fell.

Time was of the essence, as he grew groggier by the moment. He hated Mana even further at this moment, for her incompetence - if she was going to wake him up from death only to leave him to fall right back in, why wake him up in the first place? It was just torture- or not. Realizations seemed to be the theme of the night, constantly popping into this mind of his in its state of refreshment and declining. She had said she had left him a gift... something to eliminate this threat with?

What else could eliminate a creature other than another creature? Another creature seemed a pretty good strategy to him: it was either beat this Gastly now, or die, and thus he had to put his faith into the girl who had gotten him into this situation in the first place... he reached out to the side and grasped the red and white sphere that lay there tightly, and tossed it forward after pressing a finger onto the release switch. His head drooped, and he missed whatever sound effects or anything the little thing made... and his vision was too blurry to see just what the creature that was supposed to be his savior was.

"...attack...gastly..." he groaned. Consciousness was slipping.

A flash of thunder struck somewhere close by... was it raining? No, he heard none of the pitter-patter that came with it, so that couldn't quite be it... so what was the source?

He knew in his heart just what the source was, all this time, but his gaze focused upon the yellow fur, an extra dot of miscolored black fur on his back just below the typical Pichu's patch only confirmed it. Wherever he was at the moment, Mana had dropped off the family Pichu - "Chuseph" - with him. Next to him was a fading Gastly, which he ignored - it would be gone now, as Chuseph had struck it hard. Thus his own paralysis was gone, but his muscles still had a strange fatigue to them. As he slipped his hand outward, muttering "return...", he watched a red beam of light shoot out and envelope Chuseph, then slipped the ball into the pocket of his pants just in case he needed the filthy looking little rat a a later time.

His next priority, he knew, was to get out of this place. It had a haunting atmosphere to it, its tight brown wooden walls, and the cold floor he lay on. It almost felt as if there was a human presence in the room, besides himself.

Slowly but surely he managed to pull himself to his feet, his arms hanging low in front of him, his legs weakly wobbling beneath him, not quite able to effectively support his weight... but he needed to move. He was not safe here, for if he were to look, it would be likely that he would find more Gastly or even worse creatures lurking in the depths of this strange house. He took one experimental step, and found out his worst fear of this moment was a brutal reality - he fell face first into the floor. Turning himself over, he could only sigh. It looked like this was the end.

"... Oh no. Uhm, Sneasel. Go over there and see if you can spot his vitals - is it a corpse, or is it alive? Nod once for dead, nod twice for alive..."

His consciousness was fading yet again. From real fatigue this time - part of his mind had been warped, twisted at the will of another creature... it was understandable that he was tired. A strange looking black creature with a red feather on its head, claws donned on both hands and his toes, walked over to him and stared at him as his world went into a color scheme of black and white. Two nods. A rushing of feet met his ears, and he felt a cold hand grab his own, before consciousness slipped away once again.

He was genuinely concerned for this boy, whom he found laying on the floor of the Old Chateau, his body shivering ever so slightly and very pale, sweat dotting ever inch of his visible skin and then some. He was ill; very ill, and he had no idea why, but his main concern was to get him to the Floaroma Medical Center... Eterna was closer, but he had no idea where the hospital there was, so he was only willing to take the safe bet - fly over the fores with the help of Murkrow and Golbat, and get to the hospital he knew.

"Yes sir, he's being moved to the ICU first thing off for a more intensive check out, but the doctors say it's doubtful that it's anything life-threatening: you said he was found collapsed inside the Old Chateau, correct?" The receptionist asked kindly, her voice seeming to be of concerned tone when in reality, he could tell that she had spoken to concerned people enough to be able to mimic their voice... a thing that came with experience on the job, he supposed.

"Yes ma'am," he responded curtly.

"Then it was likely a Pokemon's attack. Hypnosis, specifically. When used on a human weakly, it can cause extreme muscle fatigue... he should be fine within a few days, with a regular dosage of a drug specially designed for cases like this, and of course natural body rest. Now, for legal purposes, we need to take down some of your information. Can I get you to fill this out for me?"

She handed him a clipboard with a piece of paper attached to it, a pen dangling from a beady attachment in the top right corner. Nodding, the teen accepted it and walked over to a chair somewhere close.

It only took him about a minute to fill the sheet out, as the information required was next to nothing, and his handwriting was swift - albeit a bit sloppy. He stood up and walked over to the receptionist's desk, and handed her the clipboard.

"Anything else, ma'am?" he asked.

"No, that'll be all, Mister..." She threw a quick glance down to the paper, checking out his name. "Cyrus."

* * *

Boo. Yeah, decided I'm gonna include a bit more than just Volkner in this, but he will still remain the main protagonist. As I said, don't hesitate to criticize... I'd like nothing more.


	3. Seige

Chapter 2: Seige

Cyrus nodded politely in response to the receptionist and turned himself around to begin a walk for the revolving doors of the Floroma Medical Center, feeling no real need to be here any longer as he was mildly annoyed with the beeps and mechanical voices of the intercom system, the sounds of moaning patients waiting for treatment by a doctor... hospitals like this, while acknowledged as a necessity by the fifteen year old boy, were one of his least favorite places in the world.

They were filled with pain.

He pressed a hand against the cold glass of the revolving doors and allowed himself to slip out and go into the world beyond, his foot pressed firmly down against the grass. It was a beautiful day out today, the sky shining bright with the light of the sun. The air was of a mild temperature, just cold enough to be almost tangible and covering the boy's skin, but warm enough so that it didn't really bother him. As was the norm in Floroma, or so he'd heard from most of the residents when he had once commented on the subject.

Floroma Town was a lovely little place, but Cyrus was itching to get out of it. All one needed to do to understand why he would want to get out of a lovely town like this one, was look him in the eyes. The receptionist back there had seen it, he knew. It was why she didn't ask him if he was going to stick around to see about the boy's recovery: she didn't want him around. His gaze was a piercing pool of aquatic blue, shining like the stars in the night sky.

"... Now," he thought aloud, not really meaning to but not at all caring... it wasn't like he was talking of super secret plans. "I believe I was heading to the 'Valley Windworks'?" He glanced down to his hand, which in a previous moment had instinctively slid down into his pocket and pulled out his town map, examining it closely. He had gotten a new one printed out recently, so it was fully updated to modern standards unlike a lot of maps trainers seemed to have these days. Plus the only blemishes on its otherwise normal skin were wrinkles from his folding of it.

According to the map, the Valley Windworks was just to the west of Floroma, not even a mile's walk. Cyrus only wanted confirmation for the slight bit of doubt in his head that all human minds carried on themselves, but for the most part he knew he was correct already... for he had already researched the place. It was nothing to do with his real interests, but he still found it an interesting place to explore the possibilities of. It was a generally controversial subject.

The Valley Windworks was a recently opened center dedicated to furthering the productivity and efficiency of the field of renewable energy sources, their main focus being located solely on Windmills, hence the "Windworks" in their name. He had always thought the project a bit noble... polution was something to ruin happiness, whether it be domestic or wild. The effects on the planet that burning fossil fuels had on both people and Pokemon was step one in the many things human beings needed to eliminate. He wanted to tour, and he wanted to give them his signature of approval, though he knew a fifteen year old's would not matter a bit.

He let loose a small sigh, masked in sound by the wind that rolled through Floroma Town at that particular moment, causing his long blue hair to waver a bit, and pocketed his map.

*

Within half an hour he was there. He was a quick walker, his long legs having a distinct swiftness and grace to their steps.

He tilted his neck upward to observe the place. It was pretty big for something of its kind, he had to admit, but the destruction of habitat would at least be gone to a good cause. It was as white as a sheet, excluding some grayer patches where paint had already been a bit decayed by the environment (Cyrus figured perhaps some of the employees had done Pokemon battles or something to scar it). Atop its pale surface stood a multitude of poles each equal in size and topped themselves by spinning wheels, which caused a large breeze to blow through the area periodically. In his walk here, he had felt it three times.

Right outside was a small toll both, with one of those pricing things that more modern stores used on their cashiers. Seeing it unmanned, he figured it best to ask inside.

He sighed once more, before pushing open the door and stepping inside.

"Ah, hello, sir! I haven't seen your face around here before!"

Before Cyrus could even get the door open completely, a cheery voice greeted him, its tone almost scary with its rehearsed glee. He recoiled slightly, when he realized... well, nobody was at the desk that sat in front of the entrance.

"... Hi?" He half-replied, half-questioned.

"Welcome to the Valley Windworks! Are you here for the tour?"

Suddenly he found himself stumbling backward, letting out a startled yelp. The voice was coming from a source he had not thought possible. In the instant after he spoke, a flash occured in front of his eyes, and hanging upside down in front of him was a combination of various metal plates painted jet black with small eyes of blue carved into the steel. An antenna stuck out from the machine's head. It lowered itself in front of him, hovering with a low whirring sound.

"... Uhm, yes," Cyrus glared at the creature with mild apprehensiveness, but figured it best to trust the thing if he were to get the thing he came here looking for.

The robot suddenly creaked, as a mechanical smile crossed its previously unseen lips.

"Okey doke!" the machine said, then turned around and began to buzz off toward the east. It stopped just before turning a corner, and looked back to observe the stunned, quietly observing Cyrus. It screamed out at him next, trying even further to get his attention. "Are you coming or what, sir?"

Cyrus blinked, then nodded, running after the thing. He had to do so because with the confirmation of his following the robot did not stop to let him catch up, instead continuing to buzz forward leaving Cyrus in the dust. He eventually caught up with him when the machine came to a complete halt, staring intently into a room: it was about the size of a small home's kitchen, but taken up entirely except for a small walkway in the direct center by computers, their inner workings buzzing and beeping frantically.

The robot fell to the floor with a thud.

_click_

Over the sound of the computers, Cyrus heard an all too familiar sound very close to his ears. As he prepared to turn around and investigate, his hand reaching toward his belt to unleash his single way of protecting himself, he felt cold hard metal press past his hair and dig into the flesh of the back of his forehead.

"Hand off the belt, kid. One move after that, and I'll make sure your brains are all over the floor."

-

AT THE SAME TIME...

-

His head.

His fucking head.

Good god, why did his head hurt so fucking much?

He heard beeping, and the sound of voices, low and droning, almost mechanical. Like over an intercom or something. He wanted it to stop, so he reached up weakly through the dark envelope that surrounded him, clenching his hand weakly into a fist. He realized almost immediately that it wasn't possible, but he was damned and determined to do it anyway even if it killed him. Which at this rate, he was pretty sure it would.

He heard voices. They were mumbles in his newfound sense of hearing, but he could tell they were close; close enough to place their cold flesh upon his own, forcing his hand back down to his side. He wanted to struggle against it, but he was weak: too weak to fight back against the domineering, invisible foe. He let himself moan lightly, and with this power he realized he had, his consciousness truly began to return.

His eyes opened quickly, but the effects of sleep blurred his vision for a couple of moments. He could make out the faint shape of lights on the gray ceiling, and the walls to his sides that he saw in his peripherals were painted with an uplifting floral pattern. He made out pink then, and then the shape of a woman's body who he recognized almost immediately to be the one who pushed his hand down when he lifted it. He wasn't all too objecting to this normally, but right now he looked up to her and managed to groan out a question.

"... Where am I ..."

The nurse offered a kind smile in response, concern for him evident in her eyes. He felt like crap, so he imagined he probably looked like crap too.

"Sir, you're in Floroma Town Medical Center."

Floroma Town didn't sound familiar to Volkner in the slightest.

"What...? Floroma...?" he asked, glaring at her to try and give her the clue that he was totally confused.

She understood, it seemed. "You were in the Old Chateau, according to the person who brought you in. We think a Pokemon..."

It hit Volkner then. "... a Gastly attacked me. Right."

The nurse nodded, showing slight signs of optimism in the fact that he at least remembered what had happened to him.

"Do you know your name?" the nurse asked.

"Volkner," he responded.

"Where are you from?" she continued.

"Olivine City..." Volkner muttered. The implications this could possibly have eluded him for a couple more moments, before they hit him.

_... crap. Think._

"Oh? Olivine in Johto? My, were you on a tour...?"

"You mean this is-... uhm, I mean... yes. I was." Volkner slipped the sentence past his lips after a couple of moments, after realizing just what was going on... he wasn't in Johto anymore.

"Is there anyone we can contact? Friends, family?" she asked kindly.

Volkner merely shook his head. "I'm here alone... I brought along a Pokemon though," he said, remembering Chuseph's presence. "Do you have him?"

She nodded.

"Can I get him back then? I'd feel a little more comfortable with him by my side..."

It was a genuine lie through his teeth, but he felt it a necessity.

She nodded, and reached for the desk that sat next to his bed, and slipped open the first drawer. She pulled out the red and white ball, and pressed the release switch on the center, pale skin touching silver steel. Volkner shut his eyes as a bright flash echoed through the room for a moment, but opened them again when he felt soft fur touch his skin, a familiarly warm hand placed against the side of his head.

"Aww, he's a cute little guy..."

"He is, isn't he...?" Volkner replied between gritted teeth.

"Well," the nurse started. "I'll leave you alone to get some rest. We'll be giving you some medicine for your muscle fatigue... should last, say, two hours. I'll be back then to administer another dose."

Volkner nodded in response, his plan beginning to form in his mind. A bit struck down by the Nurse's next statement, though.

"It'll eliminate the fatigue so you can move at maximum efficiency. So if you need to use the bathroom, or anything of the like, you can get up and do it on your own. You're in need of hospital care, but only slight. I'm sure you can handle things by yourself... but if you do go somewhere, tell a nurse, because if the drug wears off, you will be incapable of moving for a couple of minutes. Nasty little side effect of the drug, but we'll take care of that if you're just responsible. Understood?"

Volkner nodded, and cursed to himself.

After a couple of awkward moments in silence while the nurse administered the medicine through syringe, he watched as she walked away... and almost in an instant, he felt amazingly better. The strain on his muscles, the tiredness... he felt normal again.

He grabbed Chuseph's Pokeball and returned him, then pulled himself out of the bed and began to prepare for his escape.

-

The only reason his plan worked was because he looked so normal. They hadn't placed him in a hospital gown, and had instead left him in his old clothes, so he only looked like a really dirty trainer visiting someone. He was able to slip out the door without a problem.

He quickly moved away from the front of the hospital, and instead got himself up to a small dirt path inbetween a row of trees. He had to admit this place was nice, flowers blooming everywhere, fragrance beyond the saltiness of the sea he was used to. The wind was also quite nice as well. He was a teenager running off into the theoretical night, as he knew that his patience would not leave him bed-ridden for even the slightest amount of time when adventure stood in front of him, and his only sense of direction was now the way the wind came. He decided to go opposite of it, and that had led him up to this path... he only hoped that when he went through it, he would end up at a safe place before the drug wore off.

-

The walk only took him forty-five minutes. He made it through the forested path with no problems, and now stood at the foot of a large building with a white painted surface, an array of windmills dressing its top.

"Hello, s-sir..."

He hadn't even noticed that someone was out there with him. He stood in front of a small desk that seemed to be a reception desk, the small cash register in front of him. This place apparently charged to get in, Volkner realized.

"... Yo. Sorry, I'm jus-" Volkner tried to speak. The blue haired person cut him off, a hint of fear evident in his voice.

"To enter here, you'll need to pay ninety-one dollars and ten cents. Minus zero." he said, irritating Volkner slightly. A huge sum, and he was even trying to tell him that he refused to cut off the price in the slightest.

"... I'm not here to get in, just taking a l-"

Once again, the blue haired person cut him off, his silver-sleeved arm reaching up to scratch behind his head. He winced a bit, as if something pained him.

"You wanted to ask questions? Same price."

Why was this guy so intent on-

Ninety-one ten spelled out nine-one-one-zero. He said minus zero.

Nine one one. Was this guy in some sort of danger? No, it couldn't be. Even so, why would he ask a boy like Volkner to save him?

Volkner's hand wrapped around the cold, tiny ball on his belt and pulled it out. He pressed the release switch, and a bright flash of light entered the area, in which he noticed that the blue haired, silver-shirted man winced even more. Something was paining him, definitely. But what?

"Sorry sir, there's a G.U.N. policy here. It's a spanish term, I don't really know... but no Pokemon are allowed out..." Another wince, enough to make him groan a little.

G.U.N.

Gun.

So, here he was with a choice. Save a guy who was being forced to con money out of people by gunpoint, or walk away with it on his conscience.

He returned his Pokemon, and glared at the cashier-hostage.

... God damn it.

Volkner walked forward. Faster by the second, until he was in a sprint, where he leaped up over the desk, sliding his foot against the blue haired person's face. It was rag-tag, ineffective tactical manuevering but damn it, it worked. He heard a loud banging sound, and was shaken for a moment... but he recovered quick enough to land on his feet and toss the ball in his hand beneath the desk. It opened up upon contact with the front, and he yelled out his orders in some language not plausible to him at this particular moment where all of the world seemed to be utter nonsense, a babbling variety of language that he tuned out.

He saw the mouse pop out of the light that came forth, and follow his orders for a Thunderwave attack, leaving the gunmen that kneeled beneath the desk and had been pressing his gun up against the blue haired person's leg paralyzed. The gun dropped from his hands, and Volkner ran to pick it up.

Things started to make sense again.

The blue haired person sat at the front of the building, blood trickling from his what Volkner assumed to be his nose but couldn't really tell because the person had his hands over it as if the gesture would suddenly heal the wound. Volkner placed the gun on the desk, and moved over to him.

"Smart. You alright? Didn't really mean to kick the shit out of ya... didn't see any other way, th-"

It seemed the blue haired person made a habit out of interuppting people midsentence, even if he was safe.

"... I'll be fine. Thank you, but there are more people inside. They want to take advantage of the tolling system for the tours this place is giving and charge outrageous prices, to get them some extra cash. They have the director of this place and my Pokemon inside. Toss me the gun on the table... you're done here if you want to be."

Volkner only sighed.

"... I haven't got much else to lose, I guess," he muttered. "I'll help you."

"Thanks..." the blue haired person said. "What's your name?"

"Volkner. Yours?"

"Cyrus. Now, let's go take this place back..."

Volkner then grinned, a bit excited by the prospect. He jolted to his feet and went to the desk, picking up the gun and handing it to Cyrus once he got himself to his feet and moved over to him.

Both of them were nervous as hell, but Volkner really had nothing to lose. He was left in a foreign world where he knew no one, plus he was sort of running off an adrenaline-clouded mind.  
Cyrus just wanted his Pokemon back, for he was useless without them.

"Well then," Volkner responded. "Let's go."

-

Wee! I totally went off script of my plan here, but I like this idea better. Sort of develops a bond between the two like I DID plan, don'tcha think? Plus it works better with some later plans too...

Next chapter... Volkner and Cyrus take back the Valley Windworks!


	4. Partnership

Chapter 3: Partnership

If there were two things that the strangers who knew each other only by name shared, they were heartbeat and emotion.

Volkner's hand pressed against the metal push-door, hot from the sun of the day. His heart beat hard and fast, mixed in with the fear he felt at the knowledge that a strange man could turn the corner at any particular moment and make his brain the newest addition to the wallpaper. There had been a gunshot. If Cyrus was correct and there were more people inside, this was bound to tip them off that something had happened and they would come to investigate. The only assurance he had was the gun in his newfound partner's hand and even that was dependent upon reflex that Volkner couldn't be sure Cyrus had.

He was, admittedly, already starting to reget his decision to assist. Perhaps it had been his conscience unable to let him walk away, or confusion... but no matter the case he was stuck here, afraid or not, and he couldn't go back on his word now.

"There are four main rooms of the Valley Windworks," Cyrus whispered, "along with the various smaller rooms. Each of the four main rooms houses a computer system for functionality of the place and a goon. Whoever these guys are, we're gonna have to sneak past 'em or beat 'em... hopefully the former."

Volkner nodded in understanding.

However, he actually understood very little of his predicament and he knew this fact well. What made him lie was the single realization that he could smell the sweet stench of adrenaline in the air around him, and he was no longer a cramped up school boy waiting for the day he turned eighteen - he was doing something now, something that wasn't in the least bit dull. Frankly, he was almost willing to risk his life for such a thing at this particular moment.

His lips curled into a twisted grin as he applied pressure to the door and slipped through, his partner following shortly behind him. Both of them breathed heavily, their chests expanding and deflating every second with the realization that it was a liability but something that they couldn't really help. Volkner felt as if his feet were nonexistent, as if he were gliding over the marble flooring even though he knew he was not. The tension in the air could be cut easier than a warm knife sliced through butter.

The situation was not entirely helped by the fact that Cyrus collided into Volkner when the younger boy screeched to a halt, toppling over and creating noise when that was the exact opposite of the goal Volkner had intended when his eyes turned the corner and observed a person.

This person seemed unaware of the noise, which was always an advantage in stealthiness. Volkner's thumb curved around the corner, and he whispered a set of commands to Chuseph. Dutifully, the tiny mouse Pokemon nodded and slipped around the corner. Volkner simply put his faith in the creature to do what it was good for, and a few moments later he heard a pained cry. However, it had come from a source he wasn't quite hoping to hear.

"CHUUU!"

Chuseph had been found. Seeing no use in trying stealthiness anymore, Volkner and Cyrus slipped around the corner and stared their new assailant right in the face.

He was a rather tall man, dressed in black from head to toe except for his head and hands. From the distance, Volkner could tell his hands were coarse and calloused, as if he had been working all his life. Perhaps it was the truth. His facial features were rather intimidating, somewhat reminding Volkner of a figure from his past that left him in a state of mild shock; Cyrus, however, found this man's look somewhat interesting. He seemed ambitious, but unable to get his ambitions done through any way but crimes like these, and Cyrus pitied him. His hair was stacked on top of his head in a strange U-like fashion.

But no matter the case, Cyrus was forced to be the one to come forward and raise his gun. It was just a question of who would could fire first - Cyrus, or this man's Bronzor, the circular metal plate with eyes.

"So you did steal Roy's gun. Tch. Such a pity, that man," the person holding Chuseph in his hands, the Pokemon limp as if unconscious, said. "As are the rest of these fools. Usin' their guns and shit... real men at least hijack places with guts."

The hostage holder scoffed, noticing that Cyrus held the gun shakily, hesitantly.

"Oh come on, kid. If you're gonna have a cheap weapon like that, at least hold it with confidence."

Cyrus began to shake worse at the comment, struggling to keep himself steady. He was barely afraid at all, but rage set onto him, a great weight over his shoulders that made it hard to stand still. But for the sake of his partner's Pokemon, he was withdrawing his fire for the moment.

"Let the Pichu g-go, or I'll shoot..." Cyrus threatened.

"Really, kid?" the man sneered. "Let's see who'd win..."

He extended a hand, and the blue metallic plate floated over to him obediently. "Your gun, or my Bronzor."

"... Well, let's u-uh... see!" Cyrus said, trying his hardest to stay threatening but not really being all that successful. He was shaking even further. He was frightened out of his wits, for he knew one wrong move could mean a restored captivity; or worse.

Volkner, by this point, was able to break himself out of his shocked state and pull himself up to his feet. The fight had nearly been worn out of him by the sight of this man, Cyrus could tell, but he had no idea why.

"Let my P-Pokemon g-go," the stuttering boy demanded. "or I'll t-tuh-take him f-from you myself..."

"Oh, stutter the boy wonder is up!" the man exclaimed, excitement evident in his voice. "I was wondering if I'd only get to deal with one little pest..."

Volkner grimaced.

Suddenly, the man cried out his first order. "Bronzor, confuse ray!"

Cyrus then grimaced too, his finger pulling backward and thus pulling the trigger. A loud bang burst through the room as the gun went off, a single bullet zooming through the air, having been aimed for the man's leg...

... but to no avail. As predicted by him, the man's Bronzor simply moved in front and took the bullet, leaving him with a small scratch. The steel-like surface seemed almost indestructable in that short moment.

It then fired its attack. Out of its eyes, the two boys could make out a pulsating throng of energy rings in a variety of colors right before their minds turned to mush.

* * *

"Land ahoy!" a cheerful seaman cried, extending a single pudgey finger outward toward the landmass visible on the horizon. Silence ensued for a moment, before - in traditional mannerisms for seafarers who traveled through this system, so the pamphlet she read had said - the boat erupted into a thunderous cheer, her own timid applause mixed in with it but drowned out by the more enthusiastic passengers. It did not bother her much at all; quite to the contrary, it pleased her.

She was the type of girl who preferred not to have attention drawn to herself. Situations like that left her stuck in paralysis, self-conscious doubts running through her mind as she stood there in her frozen daze.

_Did I say something stupid?_  
_Did I do something stupid?_  
_Do I look ugly?_  
_Do I sound wrong?_

It was for these reasons that she closed in upon the shores of Pastoria City. She was regretting her decision to come here and do this, but she couldn't turn back now. Besides, for some strange reason, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she wasn't alone in her regret: somebody out there was feeling the same way.

* * *

The man let loose a howl of laughter as he observed the two. The blue haired one on the left was now pretty well convinced he was a Seel, it seemed; his hands were stuck out in front of him and repeatedly clapped them together, his mouth opening to release a low pitched rough bark. This was the most entertaining of the two individual reactions, as the yellow haired one just seemed to be convinced he was lifting dumbbells, his arms extended toward the sides and lifting up, hands curled into tight fists around imaginary bars.

"My god," he said between chuckles. "Captain Giggles and the Body Builder... good nicknames for you two, don't you think?"

As he spoke, a sudden ring echoed through his ears. It was the sound of his phone, a realization that sent shudders down his spine for he knew it meant dealing with his idiotic team mates.

He slipped the phone up to his ear, and spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, what's up Gomel?" he asked.

"Saturn, have you taken care of the intruders?"

"'course. Confuse Ray'd 'em with Bronzor... what now?"

"Tie them up. As a precaution, blindfold 'em... but, well, they 'prolly won't live to report any eyewitnessing, but it's better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right."

_click_

The sound of the phone shutting off hit his ear, and he pushed it back down into his pocket.

"Idiot," Saturn complained. "Interruptin' me in the middle of something good... besides, why blind fold 'em if we're gonna kill them anyways? Now boys, where were we?"

As he spoke, he watched the yellow haired boy - "the Body Builder" - fall down like a ton of bricks. Confuse Ray did that sometimes, as most energy based moves did, to humans... the boy would recover before the day was out, so he'd at least enjoy some mobility before his death.

"Hmph. Too big a work out, huh? Shame, isn't it, Captain Giggles?" Saturn said through a smirk. He approached the boy and offered a sadistic kick; the symbolic act of kicking a person when they're down. Not at all pleased with the grunt of pain received from the act, but not really wishing to pursue it any further, Jupiter turned toward a close by desk and sat down, swirling the chair around and watching Captain Giggles do his routine.

* * *

_christ it hurts_  
_what the hell is going on_

He had long since lost his ability to move and to think, leaving him floating in an endless black void. He wanted to do something, he wanted to scream... and it seemed as if his prayers would be answered soon enough. His thoughts were somewhat clear now, at least dechiperable in a mind where they were previously just as enigmatic as heiroglyphics to your average four year old.

_is that..._  
_no_  
_stop that volkner_  
_he's dead_

He looked up as best he could to see medium sized legs close to him, muscle evident but not too overbearingly present. They were wrapped in tight black fabric, and he then recognized it to be the man in control of the Bronzor, and his leg was throwing itself backward...

_holy shit this is going to hurt_

_thud_

Those same legs collided with his chest with a forcefulness Volkner had not thought possible. Pain rushed through him, causing him to cry out in protest, but the sound was warped and strangled. He could not do a thing to defend himself, either.

He realized then that he was probably going to die.

* * *

"Yes sir, I heard a gunshot near the Valley Windworks. A scream too, I think... yes sir, I'm sure! Go do your job and check it out! Sheesh..."

* * *

Jupiter let loose a small sigh. He was going to have to leave this place pretty soon, he knew - he needed to be backup for Liam, the member of the team who was supposed to do the whole conning thing in the first place, though he had been allowed a relaxation when Captain Giggles over there had wandered into the place. Damned Gomel had forgotten to lock the door: some smart team leader, Jupiter had thought sarcastically when he realized this fact.

But he didn't particularly want to do anything. He was in a lazy, pissed off mood at this particular time... but it couldn't be helped, he thought. Time to kill the children.

He lay back, and spoke.

"Bronzor, use confusi-"

_wheeeeooooooo_

A sharp pang of fear caused him to bolt upright, as that sound that all criminals dreaded rang through his ears. A horrified expression rested on his face; it was a siren. Without wasting a moment, Saturn reached toward his belt and grabbed the ball attached to it, and pressed the release switch in the center in order to open the ball, sending out a red flash of energy that enveloped his Bronzor and sucked it back in. He then reattached it, and dashed toward the next room.

It was a bland little place. A few desks scattered around, papers thrown aside as the curious members of their four-man team had viewed them. Most important of all, a window just the right size for Saturn to open and jump through, darting off into the distance. He'd have to tell the real boss that he had no choice but to leave the other men behind, he supposed. They were useless creeps anyway.

* * *

_"This is unit 10, answering the Valley Windworks call. We need a medical team here, quick."_

This was all Volkner heard before he peacefully allowed himself to fall back into the void of unconsciousness.

* * *

Volkner's eyes slowly peeled open, a familiar light filtering in at a steady pace. It was artificial, the light he now recognized through previous experience to be the type of lights that dotted the ceiling of Floroma Medical Center. He felt the soft fabric of the bed beneath him, as well as a blanket covering him and the pillow upon which he rested his head. Light beeps, the occasional cough and the sound of a woman's voice on intercom were all the sounds he could hear for a few moments, before he could manage to hear a voice.

"... You worried me sick, boy! First you run from the hospital, then you go off and do something so dumb like this..."

It was the voice of that nurse he had in his last visit here.

_"... oh crap,"_ Volkner thought.

"Now, do you want to explain yourself?" the nurse demanded, worry evident in her voice. Volkner appreciated her concern, but really wished she had less loud and less annoying ways of expressing it.

"Now, now..." a voice said. Volkner turned his head to the side, and on the other side of him sat the blue haired boy from the Valley Windworks: Cyrus. "... he just woke up. Let's let him relax a bit. You can question him later, can't you, ma'am...?"

The nurse looked to Cyrus, obviously realizing she'd been defeated. She sighed, and shook her head.

"I suppose you're right... but that was reckless, boy! Do it again and gunmen will be the least of your problems..." she muttered. "... oh, and because of your little stunt, you've been injured a little more. Your muscles are probably extremely fatigued, and you'll paralyze yourself if you try to leave again, so no more kindness on our part for you. In other words, no drugs, other than a pain reliever. You should be good to go by Monday..."

She then turned around and walked off.

Volkner turned his head to Cyrus, and saw that he was grinning.

"They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..." he said. "I guess it's a pretty accurate quote, huh?"

Volkner laughed weakly in response.

"You know," Cyrus continued. "It's funny. I realized right before that Bronzor fried our brains that you were the kid in the Old Chateau. Was wondering, what were you doing in there anyway?"

Volkner stared at him for a couple of moments, and then finally allowed himself to speak up.

"... T-that's a good question. Thanks for getting me out of there, though..." Volkner groaned. "... but yeah, it is funny, huh? You s-suh-save my life, I save yours... sorta."

"No sorta about it. You saved his, and probably mine too." A monotonous voice droned, and Volkner looked up. It was a man in a labcoat, a head of shaggy black hair matted to his face. "Both of you are very courageous boys."

Cyrus looked up to him, and smiled. "Director. Wasn't expecting to see you here..."

The man in the labcoat nodded. "Please, boy. Call me Nap. For your assistant here," he said, his gaze drifting over to Volkner. "I will explain who I am. I am the Director of the Valley Windworks, name Ked Abel. Though I'd prefer to be called Nap."

"... That's a bit of a s-strange nickname," Volkner said.

Nap Abel laughed, a dull sound. "Indeed. Long story. Anyway, I'd like to give you two a reward for your bravery."

"No reward is necessary-" Cyrus tried to say, but found himself interrupted.

"Don't l-listen to my friend here," Volkner said eagerly. "What is it?"

Another dull laugh from Nap.

"I insist. It is in this envelope."

With those words, he reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a white envelope, handing it to Cyrus. Then he waved and trotted off.

The two boys sat in silence for a couple minutes, before Volkner got impatient and urged Cyrus to open the envelope. Carefully, Cyrus submitted himself to his curiousity and peeled it open... and stared in awe.

He pulled out a rather nicely sized wad of hundred PokeDollar bills. He took a few moments to count it, then stuttered out a response.

"... Five t-thuh-thousand PokeDollars," he stammered. "... and there's a note."

He set down the money on the bed at Volkner's side, then slipped out the note and read it aloud.

_"To cover the hospital bills, and any expenses you may have for a while on travels. I sold some stock to get the money. Don't worry on paying back. Good luck to you two!_

_Signed, Ked 'Nap' Abel."_

"... Nice guy," Volkner whispered. Cyrus seemed not to hear him, absorbing in the shock of receiving such a hefty amount of money and all for free. Volkner managed to raise his voice a bit. "So, what happened to y-your Pokemon?" he asked.

Cyrus looked up, and offered a quick smile. "They're fine, thanks for asking. Your Pokemon, by the way, is inside one of the drawers on the nightstand."

Volkner nodded.

The two were silent.

* * *

THREE DAYS LATER

* * *

Volkner stood at the entrance of Floroma Pokemart, a backpack strap on each shoulder, a large blue backpack on his back. A brand new outfit clothed him, the old one ditched due to its wear and tear long since beyond repair. He looked a million times better than he had in days; that probably attributed to the boy who stood beside him. Both of them wore smiles on their faces, and both had the unspoken agreement in their heads.

The two had the unspoken agreement that they would be travel companions for a while.

Volkner was stuck in a region which he did not know; the details had been explained to Cyrus in the hospital, and although a bit rattled and sceptic on the supernatural story, he didn't seem to have completely cast the possibility out of his mind. He had told Volkner that he was just as interested in finding answers as he was, if it was true.

Cyrus was still a bit rattled from his sudden captivity. He felt a travel partner would make him a bit more secure.

Both depended on each other for now, and neither knew where the hell they would be heading next: but they were both willing to walk off into the sunrise on the horizon and find out.

* * *

Chapter 3 get! Surprise, surprise, in comes Saturn!

Next Chapter: "Into the Old Chateau!-"  
"No, no, not a good idea. That place is haunted ya know, ya idiots!"


	5. A Shocking Daydream

Chapter 4: A Shocking Daydream

The light crackle of a burning campfire rang through the ears of the two boys as they sat in the clearing, perched upon a hollow log, their faces illuminated by the brightness of the flame.

The boy on the left side, Volkner, stared into the blaze with a solemn wondering look, as if in the center of the campfire he would find the answers to all the questions that rushed through his mind like a bullet train; who was the girl who took him here; why did she take him here; what would he do now... all sorts of inquiries, and he had the answers to none of them.

The boy on the right, Cyrus, had noticed this solemn sadness in the eyes of his newly found traveling partner and turned his gaze to look at him silently, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words.

The silence remained for a few more minutes before Cyrus gathered his thoughts and broke the silence.

"Volkner, I have an idea, if you're willing to go through with it," he said.

Volkner looked up at Cyrus and nodded, feeling a slight pang of curiousity. "Depends."

"The Old Chateau," Cyrus responded. "You said that's where you woke up, right?"

Volkner nodded again. "So you think we should go check it out? See if there's some sort of clue."

Cyrus nodded, a smile stretching across his lips. "Read my mind."

* * *

The next day, the two trekked through Eterna Forest while hiding in the shade provided by the tall trees. The day, so far, had been relatively uneventful, the most exciting thing being an encounter with a couple of wild Pokemon which Cyrus identified for Volkner as "Buneary"; small brown-furred creatures with large floppy ears. This was the first foreign Pokemon Volkner had ever seen and thus he found himself a bit occupied with thought on the subject.

As they walked, they finally came upon a clearing larger than the others of the maze-like path in the forest. This one, however, made each of them smile nervously. At their west stood a barracade of trees tightly knit against each other, leaving no room for anyone their size to get through; at their east a clear pathway with no end in sight, but an unusual white fence stemming from each tree. But at their northern side, right in front of them, stood a massive house made from an old-fashioned looking wood. It was a dillapidated old shack, obviously having no one to take care of it at all in the past many years.

They nodded to each other, and stepped forward.

"Into the Old Chateau," Volkner said. Suddenly though, a shrill voice rang through his ears.

"No, no, not a good idea!" the voice cried. "That place is haunted ya know, ya idiots!"

The two boys turned around to confront their verbal assaultant, only to be met with the sight of a relatively nice looking girl.

She stood just a bit below Volkner's height, dressed in knee-length khaki shorts, a black blouse and a green cape hung over her shoulders. Her hair was shoulder length and a caramel brown. She stared at them with a piercing green gaze.

"What tha' heck're you two plannin' 'ta do here at this place?" she demanded sternly. "People've gone in their 'n died, ya'know!"

Volkner and Cyrus turned their heads for a moment to glance at each other, trying to get some sort of clue that would tell them just what they needed to do. Neither knew, but after a moment Volkner decided to wing it, speaking up.

"R-really?" he said, purposefully stuttering. "We were just looking for a place to stay for the nuh-night, and this l-looked like a good place.."

The girl looked bewildered all of a sudden. She glanced over at the old building for a moment, before returning a sceptical gaze to Volkner.

"Ya really that dumb, buddy?"

Volkner stared at her like he was hurt by the comment.

"... Oh, fine. The forest ends not too far from here. Why don'tcha two follow me? I'll show ya a good place in the city."

Volkner turned to face Cyrus, and saw him nod. Thus it was set: they would follow her.

"O-okay... what's your name, by the way?" Volkner asked.

"Call me Gardenia. Yerselves?"

"I'm Volkner," he said, while pointing at his traveling partner. "And this is Cyrus."

Volkner turned to look at Cyrus and noticed his gaze was distant; focused upon the building in front of them.

* * *

Eventually, the three reached the end of the maze of trees known as the Eterna Forest. Gardenia had been right when she said it wasn't far from the Old Chateau's location; it had barely been fifteen minutes since they started walking together before they stood where they did now, the small lake in front of them blemished with the reflections of their own bodies as well as the fishermen that sat on the bridge above it, hungrily waiting for Magikarp or Barboach to bite.

"Almost there," Gardenia said, when suddenly a thought hit her. "Oh, I just realized I never asked... are you guys trainers?"

Volkner looked at Cyrus and, with the confirmation by nod he was given, allowed himself to nod too.

"Ah, okey then," she said, a thoughtful tone to er voice. "You guys should be capable of handlin' yerselves from here on, then?"

The two nodded in unison, thankful to quickly be rid of the pestering girl.

"Right. I'll see ya later, then – why don'tcha two drop by the Eterna Gym later tommor'a? I'm a trainee there myself and I honestly been urgin' for a fight."

In that moment, a flare of excitement was evident in Volkner's eyes, and that was all that Gardenia needed to see to learn that she would be fighting him soon. She grinned, nodded, and walked off.

Now the two stood alone for a few moments, staring out into the lake as they stared at into their campfire the night before. Volkner broke the silence this time, allowing himself to grin a bit.

"I want to challenge the gym. Tonight. You gonna come with me, or you gonna rest up?" he asked.

Cyrus looked at him for a moment, a bit perplexed by the decision – but he had already figured out that Volkner was sort of the impulsive type, so he supposed he shouldn't really question... well, the impulses.

"I'll rest. Good luck and see you later," Cyrus responded, and turned to walk off for the Pokemon Center, leaving Volkner to continue to stare out into the lake, thoughts running through his mind like a bullet train – and for once in the past two weeks, nothing negative. It was entirely positive energy.

He was excited. He felt charged up. Electricity raced through his veins, leaving him almost paralyzed with glee – wait, that wasn't excitement.

"... You … little … shit ..." Volkner choked out, struggling to bring the force in his leg up to the point where he could kick back and knock back the Pokemon that clung to his leg.

It was an electric type he recognized through its reflection in the water, but just barely – he had seen it in picture books as a child. It stood just barely at his knee's height, a smug grin upon the lips that sat beneath two prong-like ears. An electrical volt symbol designed into the fur of his chest. An Elekid.

Finally, he managed it. His leg was dumb and he forced it back with the strength of a young Ponyta, but it was enough to loosen the grip of the electric type on whatever item had been thrust into his leg and send the creature back. As the Elekid was, he could tell the device was yellow and somewhat battery shaped, sending a constant electrical current through his leg. But it was weak, thankfully enough. He reached down and yanked it out.

"Alright, ya little bastard.." Volkner groaned as he turned around to look at the startled Pokemon. "You want your little toy?" He waved the thing around tauntingly, hoping to draw a small fury out of the Elekid.

He succeeded.

The Pokemon charged, letting out a primal battle cry in its cute high-pitched voice. "ELEEE..." It leaped up right before colliding into Volkner, and curled its fist back. "KIII- ELEKID!"

And in that moment, Volkner delivered his own fist right into the Elekid's face, sending it flying back into the grass. Without wasting a moment, his instincts kicked in then – and he slung off his backpack and opened the side compartment which he knew his objective to be in. He pulled out a single sphere, red on top with a white bottom and then pressed his thumb to the center. It expanded and within a second he had tossed his arm forward, trusting his aim to hit the target; it did. Upon bonking the already pained Elekid, the object opened up and sent forth a flash of red light that swallowed the Pokemon and returned it to the inside of the Pokeball.

It landed on the ground and began to shake.

_One shake..._

Volkner's heart found itself racing, an unusual thing. He ignored it for now, figuring it to be the effects of adrenaline.

_It shook once more._

As he watched, he also removed a bottle of a yellow liquid from his backpack. He had meant to spray it on his leg in that instant, but he suddenly seemed too focused on the Pokeball, rocking as the Elekid made its last struggles for freedom.

… _A third shake, and then a click._

_Elekid was his._

And Volkner was unaware that somewhere in the trees, a pair of ocean blue eyes watched him.

* * *

The girl let a small sigh escape her lips as she trudged on through the muddy grass of Pastoria City, listening to the sounds of the city around her. People were talking fast enough so that she imagined that if they had wheels attached to their head, they would speed right on down the highway. As she glanced over to a particularly odd looking man, she couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

Then her destination came into sight. A small stand with a few barstools sitting in front of a counter, a man with a variety of bottles behind him standing behind it. She approached it and sat down, reaching into a pocket of her coat for money.

"You hear, man?" one man beside her said to a friend of his. "The Valley Windworks got attacked."

"Really?" the friend asked, a bit of shock evident in his voice. "Man, the world these days..."

_Yeah... _the girl thought; not because she knew what a Valley Windworks was, but she thought it disgraceful that any place would get attacked.

"Yeah... held ransom, some dumbasses plotting to con people out of money. But these two kids tried to save it. They failed, but still, kinda admirable, ain't they?"

"What happened to the kids, man?"

"Oh, they're fine. One got a little hurt, but he was already hurt and apparently ran from a hospital, so... but I hear he's fine now."

_I'm glad..._ she thought.

"Oh, that's good. Real good people out there these days."

"Didn't you just say 'Man, the world today...' or somethin' like that?"

"Quiet!"

"Ma'am?" a voice spoke, startling the girl out of her little eavesdropping session. "Can I help you?"

"Oh..." she muttered, a bit embarrassed. "Right, right. Yes sir, could I order a simple bologna sandwich, some plain potato chips and a glass of ice water?"

"Coming right up, Miss..."

"Jasmine."

"Miss Jasmine."

* * *

"Oh my," the attendant said. "Quite the tale... you're sure you're alright? We have a few spare Cheri Berries around here."

Volkner smiled slightly, glad the pity card was working. This young little nurse, probably barely over fifteen, was swooning over his little war story and he was loving every second of it. He simply shook his head and allowed himself to limp off.

He didn't need to do so, but what fun would it be to try this and not fake a little leftover pain?

He now stood outside the Eterna City Pokecenter, looking out into the city to try and figure the location of the gym – it was evident quickly where it was, as it loomed over the rest of the place. A huge brown-topped building, it was a bit hard to miss amongst the various blue roofs popular in this city.

He began to walk toward it, hands in his pockets, an excited smile on his face.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Won't happen much. I'm just suffering from a bad lack of ideas for this story and I want to get a release in. I also apologize for the lateness of this release. , I'm sorry, but I ain't got the patience for the waits I've been getting. :( I ain't mad at ya, but think I'm gonna go ahead and drop you as a beta.

Next time:

"Pretty impressive guy, sir. Don'tcha think it'd be good if I go with 'im? Some experience, ya'know."

"Hey, hey, I never-"

"Thought I'd give you the honor? Right, right, but you're actually pretty good."

and

"Huh? Cyrus is supposed to be here..."

"Ya don't s'pose..."

"Without me? The bastard!"


	6. Fight!

SINNOH STORIES

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Oh, the woe of my writer's block! I sit there wallowing in self-pity on how bad it is, and then I sit down one night and try to get some writing in before bed and squeeze in two and a half pages – a thousand words. **

**God, I love writing.**

**Anyways, in this chapter we focus on Volkner's battle against the Eterna Gym! A new member will join the group!**

[[Chapter 5: Fight!]]

Within the next few minutes, Volkner had reached the gym. It stood way above all the other buildings in the city, obviously containing multiple floors: which, from the windows dotting its blue and brown painted surface, he could tell where filled to the brim with plant life.

With a smile on his face, and two Pokemon fully healed and ready for battle, Volkner stepped in.

The inside was just as wild as he could see from the windows. Surrounding him were the bases of many different plants, some even living – a few small Ivysaur gathered around in a huddle, huge Sunflora scattered throughout the grassy terrain, and even some Victreebel lazing around.

A mechanical starly (or so Volkner assumed it was called, as he had never seen such a thing before, because of the sticker on its forehead that read "MechStarly") approahced him, flapping its wings with a dull creaking sound.

"CHALLENGER OR VISITOR?" the creature said in its firm authoritative voice.

"... Challenger," Volkner responded, a bit creeped out.

"UNDERSTOOD. INFORMING LEADER FLORENCE."

* * *

Inside the gym, two people were conversing, looks of slight boredom on their faces. Both females, and the only ones inside the gym, the two had quickly come to be acquaintances, then eventually best friends.

Gardenia had always loved Lily for her wonderful sense of compassion and her skill in battling. An art to native Eterna City residents, battling was one of the few things doable in their quiet little place other than relax at the condos or go south to Cycling Road. But Gardenia had always had a passion for it, and she pretty much assumed she always would.

Lily Florence had told her once that she considered Gardenia to be a lot like herself. To the girl, a gym trainer in her gym, this had been more enjoyable than any other praise she had received in her life. She loved it, having basked in the glory of the statement ever since.

Lily was a bit annoyed by it, she could tell, but would put up with it. After all, she was soon to retire at the ripe old age of sixty-eight, and had told everyone – not just Gardenia – that when that happened, Gardenia was to be her replacement.

"So," Lily said. "You lead two innocent trainers out of the path which they wanted to travel?"

"Yes'm, but they said they didn't know about the Old Chateau-" Gardenia tried to counter argue.

"I'm sure they didn't. But you should let them find out for themselves, don't you think?" she said sternly. "I understand that you wanted to be a good samaritan, but you should know by now that part of the life of a trainer is learning things through experience. Don't let your superstitious self counter your logical self again, Gardenia. It can be amazingly costly."

"... Okay. Understood, m'lady." Gardenia mumbled in defeat.

"Glad to h-"

"CHALLENGER FOR LEADER FLORENCE, CHALLENGER FOR LEADER FLORENCE. NAME: VOLKNER DENZI." the MechStarly suddenly swooped in screeching. As it did so, it opened its mouth to reveal a video screen, which showed an oddly familiar face to Gardenia waiting in the lobby.

"Tell him to come on in then, Mechie. Good job." Lily responded, nodding and saluting.

The MechStarly, "Mechie", swooped out and toward the lobby.

Gardenia couldn't help but grin a bit.

"Ya'know, Lily," Gardenia said. "He was one of them trainers."

"Who you 'helped' earlier?" Lily said, a bit surprised as evident by a rise in her voice.

"Yep. I told 'em I was a trainer here... he was the more eager lookin' one." she responded.

"Well, then. I suppose we're gonna get to see some battling, then!"

* * *

Volkner tapped his foot against the dirt that served as a floor in this de-modernized gym, losing his patience at a rate that was rapidly increasing. Finally, he saw MechStarly swoop in, and caw its given commands.

"CHALLENGER VOLKNER DENZI FOR LEADER LILLITH FLORENCE HAS BEEN APPROVED. PLEASE FOLLOW MECHSTARLY UNIT IN TO THE MAIN ARENA."

"Finally," Volkner muttered, and walked off with the mechanical unit as it creaked off into the arched entryway of the gym.

He stepped inside to an even more colossal building than he had expected. Trees were the prominent plants, though some bushes and definitely a lot of grass dotted the surface of the "main arena" – this was it, apparently, as evidenced by the fact that MechStarly stopped and turned to Volkner.

It said, "DOES CHALLENGER NEED FURTHER ASSISTANCE? MECHSTARLY CAN PROVIDE SELF AS PSEUDO-POKEDEX, A TOUR GUIDE, NOTEPAD (WILL DISPLAY INFORMATION ON ORAL-SCREEN AS NOT TO GIVE AWAY POTENTIAL STRATEGY), OR CHEF."

"... Chef?" Volkner thought, but responded with a simple, "Sure, I suppose.."

It couldn't hurt, right?

"This is my first time in a gym," Volkner said. "So I guess I'd like some tour-guide information."

"_Right this way then, good sir!" _the mechanical bird suddenly said in an accent one would expect only of an overly-hyped businessman off of a television commercial. It startled Volkner, causing him to shudder in surprise. "_Here in our fine _ETERNA CITY _gym," _the last part it spoke being mechanical, dronelike as it had been just seconds before. It then switched back to its suave tone. "_We harbor the finest of _GRASS**-**_type trainers in the world! No other gym in the region of _SINNOH _compares to our own! On your _LEFT _you will see _THE ARENA. _To your north, _OUR GARDEN. CONTAINS STAIRS TO UPPER GARDEN FLOORS. POKEMON ARE KEPT THERE. GRASS-TYPES."

"Okay, okay, enough with the Tour-Guide information!" Volkner screamed. "Thanks... _fuckin' stupid machine..."_

"Hey, try 'n keep yer language down some, Mister Denzi," a familiar voice said.

Volkner looked to the arena to see a familiar face to accompany the familiar voice. He recognized it immediately to be the face of... hell, like he could remember her name. He just knew she was a total hick from the sound of her accent, and that she had told him she was a gym trainer here.

He then realized he had come to the gym for the opportunity for fighting her more than the actual leader.

And so it would be.

"Quiet, girl-" he tried to start off, but found himself cut off.

"Hey, hey, don't be rude, dude! Call her by her name if you know her," a man said from looking over the side of the arena. "You DO know it, right?"

"'ey, Jackie, let's calm down some. Mister Denzi, name's Gardenia in case you'd done forgot. Glad 'ta see ya here," she said, offering a quick wave.

"... Right, right, sorry, I have a crappy memory. Anyway, how do things work around here?"

"_Well, first of all-" _

"QUIET YOU FUCKING BIRDBRAINED MACHINE," Volkner turned and yelped, causing the machine to back away almost as if on its own conscience. "... Now, I'd like to hear it from a human mouth please."

Leader Florence leaned into Gardenia and whispered something, and Volkner could faintly make out the word "temper" before the message was finished.

"Well, first of all-"

"QUI- oh, it's you..."

"... Ah-hem, first of all, what do ya know 'bout gyms, Mister Denzi?" Gardenia asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Volkner responded. "This is my first time in one."

"Okey dokey, then. Let's hear it from the horse's mouth then, eh, Lily?" Gardenia said.

"... Beautiful young lady's mouth, thank you very much," Lily sputtered. "And a Pokemon Gym is a place where trainers test their battling skills in … well, battles. You fight through at least two gym trainers, though there can be more – there are four, here – and then the leader themselves. Which is me, by the way."

".. Got'cha. Are there rests between battles?"

"If you'd like. No longer than ten minutes though."

"Then let's get this started."

"Got'cha," Lily said with a grin.

Volkner stepped up to the arena and took a stance at the south end, contemplating his first Pokemon. He only had two options, and in all honesty this would be his first real battle. He had no idea what moves his Pokemon had, and he had no idea what their strength levels were.

Then it hit him.

"Hey, birdbrain!" Volkner suddenly yelled. "I need a pseudo-Pokedex!"

"YES SIR. POKEMON INFORMATION WANTED?" MechStarly cawed as it swooped down next to him.

"Elekid. Show me all data."

"**Elekid: Electric Pokemon. It is the pre-evolved form of Electabuzz. It generates electricity by spinning its arms. It gains strength in thunderstorms. Its weak spot is in between its horns, but the electric current generated there can buzz an unwary foe.**"

"Be quieter. Moves?"

"**Your Elekid currently knows how to perform the following attacks: Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Thundershock, Swift, Quick Attack, Leer, Low Kick, Rolling Kick, Headbutt.**"

"Okay, thanks. Now stay close but be quiet. Go, Elekid!"

Volkner turned his head to the side and tossed his arm forward like throwing a baseball, a flash of white light bolting forward from the ball in his hand, materializing onto the floor into the shape of his Pokemon Elekid. The two-prong headed electrical creature clashed its fists together excitedly, though it was probable he didn't know where he was. But he supposed it was just a violent little Pokemon. And that was good. It was a Pokemon's purpose.

To fight.

"Now who'm I fighting first?" Volkner asked.

"That'd be me," the man from earlier said. "Name's Jack."

Two fights later and Volkner was about ready to quit. He had fought through Jack's one-man team with relative ease, as all he had was some weak Pokemon called Budew. The next person, however, had a tougher team of an Ivysaur and an Eevee, two very tough battlers compared to his Elekid.

His next opponent, he suddenly realized, would probably be even tougher.

"Gardenia is up next!" Lily cried out and pointed forward.

Gardenia stepped forward, a smirk on her face.

Volkner smirked too.

"Still keeping your Elekid out, eh?" she asked.

"Yep. Let's hurry and get this over with so I can get to the leader..." Volkner responded.

"Eager, ain't we?" she teased. "Fine, fine. Let's go, Roselia!"

Another flash of light later, a small, fat little grass-type Pokemon materialized on the floor. Where its arms would normally be it donned two roses. A sensual, sly look rested on its light green face.

"Elekid, Ice Punch!" Volkner yelled, running forward with the battle as quickly as he could. He wanted to get it done and get it done fast, and Gardenia seemed more than willing to comply with it.

Elekid dashed forward, raising one of his black-striped arms and focusing an energy from his claws over his hand to encase it in ice. He swiped it in front of Roselia and hit it, but only brushing it before it jumped back, a bit of ice freezing onto its chest but falling off seconds later.

Roselia shuddered, but recovered quick enough for it to dash forward in its retaliation.

"Shake it off, girl!" Gardenia yelled. "Magical Leaf!"

Roselia nodded and leaped into the air, spreading her rose arms apart and spewing forth several leaves from them, each one glowing in its own unique color. A truly beautiful sight to some, but to Volkner it meant possible defeat, and he cried out for Elekid to dodge.

But to no avail. The leaves were apparently homing, each one slapping onto Elekid and releasing its slight energy. Alone they were nothing, but the continued pulsations of magic forced inside him caused Elekid to take some serious damage already. A few lacerations dotted Elekid's skin, leaving him bleeding a bit.

"Retaliate quickly! Swift!" Volkner demanded.

Elekid opened his mouth and let loose a barrage of star-shaped rays. They fired forward with such speed that Roselia had no time to avoid them – like the leaves, but star-shaped, they lacerated the grass-like skin of Roselia in multiple places, these spots dribbling a purple oozing blood.

"Roselia, Leech Seed!" Gardenia cried out, pointing at Elekid. Roselia nodded quickly, a signature Volkner now realized to show her obedience to commands, and spit out a variety of seeds to surround Elekid. In that instant, Elekid jumped up and to the side, avoiding the second after that the seeds sprouted leaves, now laying limp and useless on the ground.

"... Good, you avoided it," Volkner muttered in relief. "Thunder Punch!"

Elekid quickly ran toward Roselia, leaping over the leaves of the Leech Seed and into the air, cocking back its fist. It whirled its arm around and formed a bit of electricity which surrounded its fist in a ball, which then collided with Roselia. Roselia shrieked... and Gardenia was smiling.

Elekid then jumped back and held its fist with the other. Volkner realized it was bleeding, and Elekid was shuddering with pain.

"Roselia's ability," Gardenia said. "It's called Poison Point. When yer Pokemon attacks physically, it has a chance'a bein' poisoned if some of Roselia's thorns. Yer Pokemon's gonna be losin' health 'n quick."

Volkner grimaced. "Birdbrain, over here! Start a display of Elekid's health!"

MechStarly came closer and opened its mouth, displaying a red bar of health with about half of if white. A purple box rested next to it with the abbreviation "PSN", which Volkner assumed to be a contraction of poison.

"... Gah! Swift again!" Volkner yelled.

Elekid opened its mouth and shot another ray of stars, each hitting Roselia with lacerating force. The two were close in health levels already; he had no way of knowing for sure, but the heaving chest of Roselia gave him a good clue. It was also obvious this would be the last part of the gym battle that Elekid could participate in, it was just a question of whether or not an attack or poison would knock him out first.

"Roselia, Mega Drain!" Gardenia commanded, and once more Roselia nodded, swiping her left red rose against Elekid.

A fist was raised up in retaliation. Weakly, Elekid leaped to his feet and threw Roselia up into the air and then jumped up further, turned on his side and began to turn his body as he fell. A Rolling Kick attack, Volkner deduced, as the repeated beating of feet against Roselia finally knocked her out. But in the process, Elekid fell to the ground with a thud, unconscious and shuddering.

Both participants returned their Pokemon, and sent out their next.

"Tangela, go!" Gardenia yelled.

"Chuseph, let's fight!" Volkner said.

Suddenly, Gardenia burst into raucous laughter.

"CHUSEPH?" Gardenia howled, her hands over her stomach, doubling over. "Oh... oh god... oh god I'm sorry..."

"... It's my mother's Pokemon. She named it," Volkner muttered in response, his cheeks flushed red.

"No, no, it's okay... let's fight... haha.. oh god... priceless..."

"Quiet again, Birdbrain," Volkner said. "But tell me Chuseph's info."

"**Pichu: The Tiny Mouse Pokemon. The pre-evolved form of Pichu. Despite their size, Pichu can release surprisingly powerful bursts of electricity, enough to even mentally shock themselves as they did not know they had the power. Pichu, like all electric Pokemon, can charge themselves easier in the presence of Thunderclouds. Can be very babylike.**"

"Moves?" Volkner asked.

"**Pichu knows the moves: Thundershock, Charm, Tail Whip, Thunderwave, Sweet Kiss, Nasty Plot, Volt Tackle.**"

Volkner suddenly blinked.

"Volt Tackle?" he asked.

"**Volt Tackle is a move exclusive to the Pikachu family. The user surrounds-**"

"I've heard of it before, Birdbrain! But... why would Chuseph have something bred solely for battle?"

"**ERROR, QUESTION ASKED WITHOUT PROGRAMMED RESPONSE. PLEASE ASK PROGRAMMED QUESTION.**"

"... Bleh," Volkner muttered. "May as well take advantage of it. Thunderwave, Chuseph!"

Chuseph scurried toward the mass of blue vines, and slapped it quickly with an electrified paw. A jolt of electricity from the paw suddenly caused Tangela to shudder, and soon it tried to move, only to prove extremely slow around its feet. It lashed out vines at normal speeds though, apparently not effected around there.

"Tangela, Vine Whip!" Gardenia ordered, and Tangela obeyed as best it could. The Pokemon lashed out a single vine as long as it could manage and wrapped it around Chuseph's arm, lifting him up and slamming him into the ground.

Chuseph cried out in pain, but struggled up.

"Volt Tackle, Chuseph!" Volkner yelled, and suddenly Chuseph scuttled forward, a massive aura of electricity in proportion to his tiny little body, and slammed into Tangela.

Both Pokemon lay there in silence for a couple of moments. Suddenly, Tangela struggled up to its feet, and Chuseph followed shortly after. His face was obviously strained.

His arm was displaced in a strange, unnatural way, and Volkner tried to offer another command – but he was interrupted.

"Yer Pokemon's arm is broke. Surrender and go heal it," Gardenia said.

"No! He can still fight-"

"Still fight? Yeh, sure, but he'd be in pain!" Gardenia retorted, a fierceness in her voice.

"Who cares?" Volkner found himself screaming at that point. "It's just a Pokemon-"

"Just a Pokemon?" Gardenia roared. "Pokemon are living, breathing creatures like you 'n' me!"

"MURDERING CREATURES! WHO THE HE-"

"QUIET DOWN, BOTH OF YOU!" Lily cried out, and the room went silent.

Gardenia stood there seething.

Volkner stood there shaking, holding back tears.

Lily stepped in between the two. She held her hands out.

"Volkner Denzi! You are to go heal your Pokemon, or I will call the Eterna Police Department in charges for cruelty! The battle is OFF!"

* * *

"Who's there?" Cyrus cried out into the darkness of the room. "I know I heard something!"

He heard no response, but a mist covered the room. Cyrus stepped back and put a hand onto a Pokeball, tossing it forward, as a pink creature stepped forward. A flash of white light did not come forth, as if light denied an existence in this room.

"Golbat, let's fight this thing!"

"... I … am … so … lonely ..."

* * *

Exactly an hour later, Volkner Denzi was convinced to go into the Pokecenter, stubbornly arguing against healing a Pokemon that could fight anyway. It took Lily walking to a phone and speaking to the officers about a situation in their gym – when Volkner agreed, she said a Gym Trainer had solved it, thanked the police and hung up.

Gardenia of Eterna Gym followed him, a hand firmly placed on his shoulder, looming over him like an angry Salamence. Which she pretty much was, without the blue skin and wings.

She turned to him and in front of the cute nurse, who scowled at him because of the time she realized it had taken, she slapped him across the cheek. "Don't you EVER think thoughts like that again! I thought you done made yerself seem like a decent person! A lil' foulmouthed, sure, but like this... I just... ugh!"

She dragged him off toward the gym again, and Volkner couldn't break free of her grasp.

The two stared Lily Florence in the face now, and Volkner was about ready to leave.

"Volkner Denzi," Lily said. "Do you want to be a great Pokemon trainer?"

It was, admittedly, part of his reason for traveling. Of course he wanted to find out about Mana, to find out why he was placed here, but he also wanted to go on his journey – the last time he had seen his mother had been because of an argument against her about doing it.

"Yes," Volkner said. "And for that, I'll get some strong Pokemon – not weak little things like Chuseph."

"What the hell? Your Pokemon nearly beat Gardenia's Tangela-"

"Nearly isn't enough!" Volkner said defiantly.

"QUIET!" Lily roared. "You'll learn to do things right! Pokemon are living creatures that need to be treated with love and compassion! You'll be a teaching tool for this gym. You will travel with Gardenia and help her learn, as it IS obvious you have some skill. But you'll never get better than her, and definitely no better than me, if you don't learn the basics of friendship!"

"And what makes you think I have to do this?" Volkner questioned.

"I'll call the police on you again, and this time I WON'T lie."

"... Gah, fine," Volkner muttered.

"Good. Now, Gardenia, have Volkner here escort you to your condominium. Pack quickly and you two will leave to the south tonight. I'll give you money for bikes on cycling road-"

"I have another partner," Volkner said. "He should be at the Pokecenter. We have money. A lot of it."

"Oh? And where'd you get that from?" Lily questioned, obviously a bit curious to see if he wasn't trying to get away.

"Ked Abel, Director of the Valley Windworks."

"You mean..."

"We tried to save it."

"So, jackass does have some morals," Lily muttered. A bit of a mouth for an old lady, Volkner thought.

"Alright, fine. Get your stuff packed Gardenia, and you'll travel with him and his partner. Help him learn."

Gardenia nodded dutifully, and turned around, tugging Volkner behind her. "Goodbye, Lily! I'll see ya!"

"Good luck and godspeed, Gardenia. Reform Mister Denzi swiftly."

* * *

The two, Gardenia now fully packed, searched around the Pokemon Center for Cyrus. It was then Volkner came to the realization he had been left behind while Cyrus searched their original destination.

"... He's in the Old Chateau," Volkner muttered.

"WHATTTT?" Gardenia screeched in terror, but Volkner ignored her. This time he would be theone to lead this duo, and go explore with Cyrus and inform him of the situation.

"... That bastard, leaving without me!"

**Well, another chapter comes along swifter than I thought! Enjoy! Next chapter..**

**Ghost Trainer! Cyrus sparks a fire in his eyes!**

**And**

**Off through Cycling Road! Volkner takes a tumble!**


	7. Freefall

**SINNOH STORIES**

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

**Author's Notes: In this chapter, we finally get onto a more crucial element to the story! Yay! Also, because I can't think of a chapter title...**

[[Chapter 6: Freefall]]

* * *

"I'm certain he's okay," Volkner said. "If you're being that much of a coward, just stand outside!"

"B-but..." Gardenia countered weakly. "I-I j-juh-just finished promising Lily I'd stay with ya at all t-tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh-"

"Times?" Volkner asked.

"... Yeh," Gardenia muttered.

"Then do just that and man up! The Old Chateau is NOT haunted – there's no such thing!" he shouted.

"... Fine!" Gardenia said, and the two stepped into the gate, treading through grass that seemed a little too heavily trimmed for this place to be as abandoned as Gardenia said it was.

"Do they send people here to keep up this place?" Volkner asked.

"No," she said. "The grass just... mysteriously disappears..."

"... So, in other words, some good samaratin just pops in and trims the grass." Volkner muttered.

The door of the place, a very large wooden one painted a light shade of purple, already hung open. Grateful to not have to go through the effort Volkner guessed it would take to try and push it open, he took advantage of it and slipped through, the lightly trembling Gardenia following right after him.

The inside of the Old Chateau admittedly gave off a sort of eerie atmosphere, Volkner had to admit. But to be haunted? He scoffed at the thought. The only residents in this place were ghosts – but they weren't the type Gardenia was so afraid of. They were Gastly, ghost type Pokemon that loved dark damp places like this.

"So how many rooms in this place?" Volkner asked. "We should probably split-"

"NO WAY IN HELL, DENZI!" Gardenia bellowed.

"... Right."

So the two began to explore each individual room. The entire place was old and decaying quickly, wallpaper peeling off the walls, creaking floorboards and some holes in the floor on both the upper and lower levels, dirt visible in the holes of the lower.

But when all rooms but the master bedroom of the upper north had been searched, the two deduced that it was where their objective was; if he was there at all.

They went there, and for a couple of moments, saw nothing but darkness. But their source of illumination in the nighttime-induced darkness, the Flash Attack of Gardenia's Roselia, kicked in quickly and they were greeted by an odd mist.

The mist parted as they stepped inside; and Volkner's ears were met by the sound of a shriek. Gardenia's, he realized. The door behind them had shut on its own and the light of Roselia's Flash seemed to have disappeared.

"Roselia, use Flash!" Volkner ordered. He understood by now that Gardenia was too frightened to speak, as she whimpered behind him.

Roselia's arms flailed uselessly as she tried to produce light. Things were suddenly taking a turn for the worse, but Volkner found himself calm and collect, as if the presence in the room would not harm him and he knew it all too well.

"Cyrus! Are you in here?"

"... _have you come for my friend?"_ a voice crooned in the darkness.

"Cyrus? He's my friend!" Volkner responded. "Give him back, whoever you are!"

"... _you can join him if you'd like." _the voice said.

"We want him back!"

A thud behind him. Gardenia had fainted. He felt her hand slip off his shoulder and jerk against his foot.

He was alone in the room with a spirit who simply oozed malice.

Oh, there was the fear.

* * *

Jasmine Mikan nodded quietly and submissively to the man in front of her, trying to shorten the conversation as much as possible. It wasn't that she didn't want to converse – it was just that long winded conversation all short of wrecked her nerves to the point of weeping, at least with strangers. With family and people she had managed to befriend it was different. But her family and friends were back in Olivine City, while she was in the mysterious land of Sinnoh.

The man had stopped her on the side of the streets of Veilstone City to ask for directions to the nearest hotel. She had told him that she was heading there herself, so he should simply follow her. The old man had asked if that was okay, and she nodded – after all, an old man just asking for directions couldn't be dangerous, right?

The two began to walk the streets of Veilstone, Jasmine feeling a bit groggy. She had spent most of the day after lunch taking a bus-ride from Pastoria City to the edges of Veilstone. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't just get a ride there, but the construction of some new building had left the bus incapable of passing, so she had simply gotten off there and began to walk.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on the back of her head, and swiveled around to check out the source. The old man stood there, skidding to a stop behind her, his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants.

"Is there something wrong, Miss?" he asked.

"I could have s-sworn... oh, nevermind..."

So the two continued to walk, and eventually the feeling persisted. She had figured it to be the wind the first time, but now she was suspicious of the feeling of flesh touching her scalp. She was about to whirl around and check out the old man again, but this time she felt something cold and steel press against her throat.

"... Heh. Stupid bitch. Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to go out alone at dark?" he asked, his mouth pressed against her ear. She could smell the stench of his breath from this close and it was revolting.

"... D-don't d-duh-do anything you're gonna regret, sir..." Jasmine stuttered.

"Oh, trust me, you look like a fine piece of work. Like hell I'll regret it," he said.

It was then that Jasmine brought her foot backward and let it collide firmly with the crotch of her attacker. His grip on her went loose and the knife went across her throat but only slightly. There was barely enough strength in it to make a laceration.

Jasmine whirled around and pressed her hand to the inside of her jacket, opening up one of the balls in there. She was gambling that it was the right one, as the wrong one could be defeated much easier than the right one. A flash of light lit up the night and soon lights in the homes around began to flicker on as a deafening roar filled the area.

The attacking man, once he recovered from his pain, looked up to see a huge pair of eyes staring right at him. A living chain of rocks about the width of the street and a few blocks of length stared him in the eyes, and it was then that he scrambled to a standing position, turned around and ran for the hills.

"... T-thank you, Ony," Jasmine said. She reached up and run a finger across her neck to feel out the damage. A crimson streaked finger told her it was a wound, definitely, but the blood was already drying. It would be a simple few days before it healed up. She returned Ony the Onix and landed on the ground with a slight thud, something skillful for a twelve year old girl such as herself, and looked around to see awestruck people out of their houses. One was on the phone. From the words "officer" in her conversation, she could tell it was with the police.

Jasmine walked up to her and bowed her head. "M-ma'am, may I please use your restroom to clean myself up a bit?"

"... Hold on officer," the woman said. "... Yeah. But what happened?"

"A man tried to attack me," she said.

"Oh, you poor thing... would you like a lodge for the night? I'm sure my kids wouldn't mind sleeping together for a night so you can have a bed."

"No thank you, ma'am. I'll just go to the hotel..."

"I insist! You aren't older than, what, thirteen, fourteen?"

"Twelve, ma'am. And I suppose it'd be a good money saver... but I'll sleep on the couch."

The woman nodded. "Okay. Just come on in off the streets."

_What a nice lady... _Jasmine thought.

* * *

"Volkner..." a familiar voice sputtered, weakness evident in him. "... Gastly. Clefable. Ghost. GHOST."

Volkner looked around to try and find where Cyrus's voice was coming from but to no avail. Instead, he only saw a pair of glowing red eyes at the dead center of the mist.

_What was it Gardenia had said?_

_Oh, right. Spirits typically tend to be bound to the room that you see them in. If you want to flee from one, get out of the house first – but if that's impossible, get out of the room. Ha. Too late for that now._

"Let's go, Elekid! Thundershock where the eyes are!"

He tossed a ball forward, and a strange occurrence met his eyes: the usual flash of light that happened with a Pokeball's release mechanism being triggered did not happen for longer than a split second. Something had sucked away the light.

Elekid remained silent for a few moments, leaving Volkner's heart thudding. He then realized it was just him getting his eyes used to the darkness as after a moment he heard a faint, "Ele, ele, ele..." and a buzzing sound like a generator. Then a louder, "KID!" as a jolt of electricity fired forward, snapping against the floorboards and momentarily illuminating the room ever-so-slightly. In that instant, Cyrus became visible.

He was in a heap at the feet of a man. The man was about five feet tall on the dot with a bald spot in the center of his head, two tufts of graying hair extending. He wore a suit and his skin was deadly pale. On his left floated a mist ball, likely the source of the darkness-forming mist, called Gastly. On his right was a cute pink creature, but its eyes were a bleak red. A Clefable.

The man looked like a butler, Volkner told himself. The ghost of a butler.

He was indeed a spirit. The Old Chateau was haunted and he could deny it no longer. He should have fucking listened to Gardenia's warnings, but no, his logical mind didn't allow the idea of ghosts when he was a victim of fucking supernatural events. What a dumb ass he was, and he was about to die for it, he felt like.

He broke down.

"God damn it, god damn it, god damn it, god DAMN it!" he roared. "Elekid! Thunder Punch the Clefable! Beat its face in!"

Elekid complied the best it could. But that wasn't enough. His attacks passed right through the Clefable. It to was a spirit, apparently.

"Damn it, damn it, d-duh-damn it..." the fight was draining out of Volkner at a quickening pace. He had no ideas on how to get things to work on an invulnerable enemy, he was alone, and he was panicking. He was about to die.

"... I w-wanna go home ..."

By this time, tears were streaming down.

"I don't want to do anyone any favors! I don't want to train, I don't want to remember Ivan's death, I don't want to travel, I JUST WANNA GO HOME! JUST LET ME GO HOME, PLEASE!" he sobbed.

He lifted up a fist and smashed it through the ground. He heard an innocent giggle in the background of his mind and a demonic rumbling laughter through his ears, but he blocked out both as an idea hit his head like a wrecking ball colliding with his skull.

He sent out Chuseph, and called for Elekid, whispering a plan to them. He got to his feet and ran toward the ghost while the critters executed his plan.

He took a swipe at the ghost, gasping for breath as a cold sensation rushed over his arm. It went numb in an instant.

"CHUUU!"

Chuseph was darting around from corner to corner of the room, an electric aura surrounding him, dim in the darkness-forming gas.

"KIDDD!" Elekid was leaping around, punching holes in the floor, more and more light starting to pour through for short instances.

Volkner jumped back, his movement causing the floor to creak with strain. He then ran forth and swiped once again, his other arm getting that chilling numbness. He wished the plan would hurry up and work.

He kicked. His leg went numb and he stumbled backward, narrowly avoiding Chuseph as he darted to another corner. He stood there for a second, face to face with the ghost, before thrusting his face forward toward the head of the thing. A demonic rumbling laughter occurred once again, and his entire body went numb. He flipped over on his side and hit the floor. He wasn't unconscious, but the agonizing pain that rushed through his body made him wish he were.

Then the plan began.

Elekid quickly began to run for Volkner and pressed his claw against his ball, returning himself. Chuseph was supposed to do the same thing, but he instead merely leaped up onto the doorknob of the room. He was glowing, for some reason.

… _nothing but a tool for fighting … _Volkner thought. _… he's gonna abandon us. ha. Should have expected it. _

The floor was falling apart. The plan had been to damage the floor to the point where it collapsed, and it was working quite well. How anyone was going to leave that sight without a body bag he couldn't help but wonder, but it was better than dying by ghost.

Chuspeh jumped off the doorknob then, in a totally different form.

He was now bigger, almost twice his previous size. His ears had lengthened and developed better. His cheekspots were a bit larger and a deeper red. His body no longer had a black stripe around it, instead pure yellow. His tail was jagged like a thunderbolt.

He had evolved into a Pikachu. Along with Gardenia's Roselia, he watched for the short few seconds before they hit the floor beneath as the two worked together to slice and burn away the wood that was supposed to either crush or impale all of them.

" … _thank … you … "_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Notes: Heck yeah. Crankin' out chapters, eh? Just sat down for five hours to write this and enjoyed the hell out of it. Hope you liked it as much as I liked writing it.**


	8. Hearthome Scramble

**SINNOH STORIES**

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

**Author's Notes: In this chapter, we realize just how creative I am with surnames! [Formula = English Name + Japanese Name = Full name. Algebraic genius, si?]**

**Oh, and we also get to see Volkner get hurt more! Yay!**

**

* * *

**

[[Chapter 7: Hearthome Scramble]]

It was a unique smell, Volkner thought as he lay awake in his bed. The smell of hospitals, a clean and fresh scent always having that underlying stench of rot and sickness. He had no idea how he had gotten to a hospital, but he knew he was really tired of having to be in one. This was about his third time this month.

His daredevil antics really needed to stop.

Cyrus Akagi peeled open his eyes slowly at first, but opened them wide quickly when he realized just where he was. He hated these places, hospitals, and only went to one when he deemed it necessary – to visit Volkner in Floaroma, or to visit family. He had no family left he'd even think of visiting but his younger brother and when with Volkner he had simply visited once a day and left to stay at a hotel for the night.

He sighed. He really didn't want to stay here, but the aching muscles all across his body deemed it necessary.

Gardenia tossed and turned, brushing her few lacerations all across the bandages that covered them and thus causing a few moments of pain which her groggy self ignored.

"_She was the lucky one out of the Chateau trio..."_ she heard a voice say. _"She just has some cuts from the fall... we can't even figure out what's wrong with the other two... and their poor Pokemon just barely hung on..."_

"... my Roselia?" she croaked weakly.

"... She'll be fine, dear," the voice responded. Now a bit more awake, but not willing to turn onto her back and open her eyes to confirm, her logical mind told her it was likely a nurse. "She took a bit of a bruising during the fall, but our regeneration machines have healed her right up."

Gardenia wanted to question further, really, but she felt the sudden need to stop speaking and allow herself to fall down through the clouds of her mind and into dreamland once again.

* * *

It was six thirty in the morning, and only two people were up.

Jasmine Mikan sighed lightly as she sat on the couch of this woman's home, a bowl of Abra Kadabra's brand marshmallow cereal in her hand. The woman, who had by now identified herself as Matilda Adamson ("Mattie for short, please."), sat on the couch next to her, trying to spark up conversation.

"So, Miss Jasmine, where are you headed to? It's pretty obvious you're a trainer."

"A Coordinator, actually, Miss Mattie."

"Ohh, I see. So you must be headed to Hearthome?" Matilda asked.

"Yes ma'am," Jasmine responded.

"But the contests don't start for another week and a half! Do you have enough money to stay in hotels for that long?" Matilda asked, concern evident in her almost motherly voice. Jasmine supposed, because she had a daughter around her age, that it was a given that she be treated maternally.

"I believe so-"

"I'd like a confirmation! If not, I insist you at least stay here a few more days. You're rather pleasant to be around."

"Ma'am-"

"Mattie, Miss Jasmine."

"... Miss Mattie, I don't want to be a burden ..."

Matilda Adamson then laughed joyously. "Miss Jasmine, you're not at all a burden. In fact, in a few days, my daughters and I were planning on heading to Hearthome ourselves! You can come with us. It'd be safer, wouldn't it?"

"But Miss Mattie-"

"No buts. You're staying here," she said with a warm smile.

"... Alright," Jasmine responded, conceding her defeat.

* * *

Volkner Denzi sat up in his hospital bed and looked at his surroundings. He could tell that he was in a private room, mainly because of the blinds in all windows of the room, walls were there weren't blinds and a door tightly shut directly in front of him, that to covered by blinds.

Next to him, on the nightstand provided for him, sat his two Pokeballs. He grabbed one and pressed the release switch, a blinding light flashing through the room. He blinked, recovering from the sudden burst that he hadn't really thought about, and stared at the creature that came out with intense feelings of confusion.

He knew for certain that a Pichu was not supposed to evolve unless it felt intense kinship to its trainer, or extreme happiness of its situation. Chuseph was not supposed to have evolved – ever. Volkner did not intend to make friends with his Pokemon, to be fatherly to them. But here was proof that he somehow did it anyway, the cute little mouse Pokemon.

"Pika pika chuuu.." Chuseph cooed cutely, walking up to Volkner's side and laying there.

And for some ungodly reason, Volkner found himself smiling. Then he forced that away and pressed the release switch of Chuseph's Pokeball once again, and watched as the mouse Pokemon was sucked back into it.

He lifted up his arm, ignoring the pain, and punched the mattress. Suddenly, he heard the door open, and a nurse stepped through.

A rather cute nurse, too. "Ah, you're awake, sir!"

Volkner didn't respond, merely staring at her.

"You should lie down," she said. "You've got a torn Trapezius muscle, as well as quite a few bruises all over you, not to mention some cuts. You'll be fighting fit within a week, but I'd really recommend getting some rest-"

She noticed the Pokeball in his hand.

"Oh, and you should thank your little guys... if it weren't for them, the wood from the collapsed floor could have done much worse damage. I doubt you'd have died, but you'd be in here for months recovering."

Volkner still didn't respond, but did lie down as she instructed him. He didn't want to be awake right now, so sleep was the best option he had left.

* * *

_one week later_

_

* * *

_

Being that Cyrus was the only one who hadn't lost SOMETHING in the collapse, Volkner and Gardenia were now forced to go shopping in the Eterna Pokemart together. A rather limited selection of items, but for a trainer not much was really needed.

Their list was as following:

_POKE BALLS X 5 (each) (75$)_

_SUPER POTIONS X 3 (each) (180$)_

_FULL HEALS X 10 (each) (300$)_

_DRIED POKECHOW PACKS X 10 (30$) _

_DRIED PEOPLE FOOD PACKS X 3 (each, should last 'till our next destination. And by each I mean all three of us!) (45$)_

_REPELS X 5 (250$)_

_ESTIMATED COST: 880 PokeDollars_

A rather tedious list, and an even more tedious amount of items to carry, but they were all necessities, really.

So the two shopped for about an hour to get it all done, eliminating a bit of their monetary load in exchange for a more physical one. At least they now had three people to split it between, Volkner thought.

The two headed outside with huge bags, and they knew their shopping load wasn't over yet.

So next, while Cyrus once again lazed around outside to "guard the bags" (_bleh_, Volkner thought to that), the two of them went into Eterna Cycle Shop. Inside, they met a boy around their age manning the store for his father.

"So, uhh... Rydel, you said it was?" Gardenia asked.

"Yep!" Rydel responded. "What can I do ya for?"

"You seem like a pretty cool kid. What would ya recommend for a bike? Cheap, efficient, and sturdy," she said. "All of 'em."

"If that's the case, we have just the bike for you, mademoiselle Gardenia," a flirtatious-accented Rydel said. "It's called the Bolt. Fast, and can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Rides smooth across both mountain and man-made territory."

"How much?"

"200 PokeDollars each. They're real new, perfected only last week. Hottest thing on the bike market."

"... I said cheap-" Gardenia started, but the fortune of Volkner and Cyrus then came to mind. "Never mind. We'll take three."

"Three?" Rydel said. "Dad'll be thrilled! Come on up to the cash register. Your friend monsieur Denzi- I mean, Mister Volkner, can pick them right on up. They're foldable too, by the way! Real wonders'a technology."

Gardenia nodded and walked up to the cash register, reaching into the envelope of money and pulling out exactly six hundred PokeDollars. In the mean time, Rydel struck up conversation to which Gardenia pretty much ignored, keeping her answers short and sweet for the sheer purpose of politeness.

"Ya'know, I personally think that the Bolt is a bit of a contraption myself. Still the best on the market, but totally inconvinient. Gotta be a more efficient way of doing things, ya'know? Like, I wanna someday make a bike of my own. Kinda similar to the Bolt in terms of endurance, but a... a... Acro-bike! Yeah, I like the sound of it. A flexible one that is much lighter and can do tricks easy. Ya never know when flexibility is important when biking, ya'know?"

"Yep..." she muttered.

"You think it's a good idea?"

"Sure..."

And finally, the two of them got out of there, meeting Cyrus outside. They all went up to their shared room in the Pokemon center there and got things split up evenly.

* * *

Volkner was smart enough to do the one thing he noticed Gardenia had forgotten to inform him of: get distinctions between bikes.

Volkner's bike was, like the others, sleek and medium-sized, but a dark shade of yellow like his hair. A rather good looking thing in his opinion.

He had gotten Gardenia a green one, as she adored grass types.

For Cyrus, he had followed the same principle he used for his own, and it was a navy blue. The closest thing to the boy's hair color that Volkner could possibly find.

The three of them sat on their bikes in formation, Cyrus in the lead, Volkner in the middle, and Gardenia on the end, just at the edge of the famed Cycling Road. It was a challenge for trainers to pass – because of its deep incline. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but you weren't allowed on there without a bike, and of course a bike on an inclined hill meant serious control issues. Plus there were even some trainers crazy enough to BATTLE on such a hill.

But the three of them pedaled out, one after the other, and made it down safely. Some dodging had needed to be done to not only avoid crashing into themselves but crashing into others. Quite a few athletic people using the place for exercise shouted such obscenities as, "UP YOUR ASS BUDDY!" and "EVER HEARD OF SELF-CONTROL, JERKOFFS?".

They finally reached the end, but decided to stay on their bikes for purposes of speed and efficiency. They passed down the road until they reached a two-way path: it was either head south down a slope of a mountain they weren't quite sure they could get back up again, or go through a cave to the east.

They decided for the eastern cave.

A relatively uneventful ride went through there – the cave was barely any size at all, and they trudged through the swarms of Zubat and Geodude to make it out in about an hour. Finally, they reached the next destination city – Hearthome.

But the problem was, they reached the area as a duo, not a trio. Cyrus, for some reason, had decided that he wanted to stay to explore the area's inside a little longer. To their reluctance, Volkner and Gardenia had left on without him. Hopefully he wouldn't pull a Chateau on them again.

The two walked from there on out, and on their way to a Pokemon Center to drop off their stuff, they came across an odd sight.

A girl. She was obviously pretty young, maybe around nine or ten years old, and she sat on a public bench simply bawling her eyes out. Her entire frame shook, her chest heaving. A pretty little sight, nice brown hair and amber eyes, it was a bit pitiful to Volkner – but he would remain stoic on the situation. Even if they didn't check it out, he'd sleep well that night, but he couldn't help but sigh as he realized it: Gardenia would perform the duties of any female at the sight of a crying comrade. Comfort, support, and be an overall annoyance to any stoic traveling partner. And in this case, Volkner was said traveling partner.

_GOD DAMN IT._

"Hey, hey..." Gardenia said in a low, babyish tone. "What's wrong?"

The blubbering annoyance looked up to Gardenia and lifted up an arm, wiping away tears with the back of her hand. "... Some escaped! The poor little babies, in a city this big... they c-could..."

"What do ya mean?" Gardenia asked, and so an explanation was given.

This was a young girl nicknamed Bebe. A part time computer-geek, part-time breeder of Eevees, she had been taking a couple she was raising out for a walk, when a group of "cool tough-guys" had purposely scared them with their Pokemon. She had lost her grip of collars, and pretty soon Kiki, one of the two Eevees she had been exercising (a nameless runt of the litter hadn't been ballsy enough to get away, apparently) run off into the city.

"It's okay, Bebe!" Gardenia tried to comfort. "I'm sure people'll get suspicious when they see Eevees with collars. Tell the Police you've lost 'em."

"... I have already, but it's no comfort!" she exclaimed. "I want my widdle baby backkkk..."

Gardenia then looked up, and Volkner froze in fear.

"... You're going to make me go try and find her, aren't you?" he asked.

Gardenia nodded. "I'm gonna take some money and go see the contests today with Bebe. You'll be runnin' 'round Hearthome findin' that Eevee."

"No-"

"Problem? How sweet of ya, Volkner!" Gardenia exclaimed. She quickly pulled Bebe's weight up and the two walked off.

"... God damn it," Volkner muttered. "Leaving ME with the dirty jobs. Cyrus, why aren't you with us?"

And at that moment, Volkner would get the answer to his question with the ringing of his phone. He pressed it up to his ear.

"Cyrus?" he asked.

"Yeah," Cyrus responded. "Listen, Volkner. I know it's kind of sudden, but I've decided that I'd like some alone time. To travel alone. Good luck with finding out what's happened to you – hopefully I'll be making a long distance call to Johto next time I call you."

"... Damn it," Volkner muttered. "Alright, I suppose. Good luck, Cyrus. See ya."

"See ya."

With a click of the phone shutting, Volkner suddenly felt a slight loneliness.

"... Damn it."

* * *

Cyrus Akagi stared at the carving in front of him with a slight wonder in his eyes. It was text in an ancient language, but from studies as a younger child, Cyrus understood it perfectly.

He was glad that he had stumbled upon it. Because it introduced a whole new idea in his head, the thoughts of perhaps making his dreams come true.

If he could perform this, this chain-to-beast act, decipher its true meaning behind the words and get it done... well, he would be doing a great favor to mankind. He smiled broadly at the thought: a world without strife.

* * *

Gardenia walked into the Contest Hall and observed another odd sight.

Bebe had calmed down by now, but apparently another soul needed comforting, and she felt the compelling urge to be there as well as she could for someone who needed it. So, she handed money to Bebe.

"Go buy tickets. I gotta go use the restroom," she said swiftly, before approaching the girl who sat on the couch of the lobby.

She was a beautiful girl, obviously around her age of thirteen. She had pampered herself a bit for show-purposes, and already Gardenia could tell from that that she intended to enter the Contest. Perhaps a nervous breakdown? She wasn't crying hard (tears were streaming down her face) but she was shaking violently, her eyes wide with evidence of fright.

Gardenia sat down next to her and placed a hand on the back of her sheer white dress, accidentally brushing against her brown hair. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

The girl remained unresponsive.

"A nervous breakdown? Ya a Contest Entry?"

The girl nodded.

"What's yer name?"

The girl remained quiet for a few moments, before speaking in a slow, careful voice.

"Jasmine."

Gardenia nodded. "Ah, okey doke. My name's Gardenia. Now listen up here, I gotta go get my seat. But I 'spect ya to be in that contest, ya hear? Don'tcha disappoint me, otherwise I'll never forgive ya."

The reaction to this was violent, but positive.

Jasmine leaped to her feet and nodded swiftly. "... T-thank you," she said, before turning and dashing off.

After the girls took their seats, Gardenia lay back in hers and waited for the show to begin.

At that precise moment, the girl beside her initiated conversation.

"So, you excited for the show?" she asked. Her voice was high-pitched, pleasant to the point of almost being soothing. Gardenia looked over to her. She had a head of straight brown hair (apparently a very common color here in Hearthome – this girl was the third brunette she had spoken to in less than half an hour), and wore a long red dress. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean itself, calming.

"Yeh," Gardenia said, smiling. "I've always wanted 'ta see a Contest. But bein' cooped up back in my hometown, only got 'ta do it on the television, and even then I was barely available that long."

"Really? Where's your hometown?" the girl asked.

"Eterna City. I was a gym trainer, I say 'was' 'cause I'm currently off active duty for trainin' purposes."

"Oh. I hear Lillith Florence was once quite the contest spectacle."

"She's a beaut, fer sure. I can imagine her in one just as plain as I'd'a imagined her in the gym."

"Heheh... I'm sure. So, what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Gardenia. Yerself?"

The girl answered, and the two conversed until the show finally began, Bebe popping in for the occasional comment.

* * *

"And now I've got'cha, ya little..." Volkner muttered as he lay his eyes upon the brown-furred creature, a black collar around her neck labeled with the name "Kiki". "Time to come home to your mama so I can get out'a here 'n quick..."

Volkner leaped forward, his arms swiping together in an attempt to embrace the Eevee tight enough so that it couldn't struggle its way out, but loose enough to allow respiration. It wouldn't have mattered how tight he had tried to make his embrace anyway: he had embraced the air.

He was in an alleyway as he tried to catch this thing, and instead of taking a dive onto the ground like he had planned, he had also miscalculated his aim. He hit a trashcan straight on, knocking over the contents onto the ground and (he wasn't sure, but he had some confidence in the theory) giving himself a slight concussion. He leaped up to his feet again, taking off after the creature. It had run into the streets and Volkner intended to follow.

"STOP THAT EEVEE!" he bellowed, but of course the idiotic citizens of Hearthome did just the opposite by stepping out of his way. Finally, he decided to throw caution to the wind, and he leaped forward once again: right in front of a massive crowd in the local plaza, he had leaped to the ground and stuck his fingers in an Eevee's collar, scraping up his face but in the proccess catching the Pokemon.

He walked to the contest hall and began to wait outside, holding a baby Eevee content in his arms. Sickening, really.

* * *

Gardenia stood outside of the backstage entry way, Bebe obviously perplexed, but able to tell Gardenia was excited.

After a few minutes of waiting, the door opened to reveal a beaming Jasmine, who had performed over her stage fright and done so excellently. She had not won, but she had done one of the most beautiful performances with her Butterfree that Gardenia had ever had the privelege of seeing.

"Well, well," Gardenia said. "Someone sure didn't disappoint."

Gardenia was pleasantly surprised when the shy girl then walked closer to her and drew her into an embrace.

"Thank you!"

* * *

Volkner was greeted outside by a trio of girls – Gardenia, Bebe and some new girl. This new girl had a particular radiance to her, a cute girl very close to his age, but he would ignore her for new, a bit too annoyed to flirt.

"Here's your Eevee back," Volkner muttered to Bebe and handed the creature to her. The little girl was ecstatic. "And who's your friend, Gardenia?"

The girl bowed her head quickly. "My name's J-Jasmine," she said. He wondered what the stutter was for. "Gardenia told me about her friends. H-huh-handsome, lean and strong looking... Cyrus?"

"Volkner," he responded flatly.

"... Oh."

"Speakin'a which," Gardenia said over a few squeals from Bebe. "Any news from Cyrus yet?"

"I'll tell you later," Volkner said. "Once we drop Bebe back to her place and... Jasmine... wherever she's going."

"Actually," Gardenia said with a smirk. "She was wondering if she could travel with us. What do ya think?"

Volkner simply shrugged. "Whatever."

* * *

So the four walked to their respective destinations – Bebe to her home close by the Pokemon Center, and Volkner, Gardenia and Jasmine to the Pokemon Center itself. It was there that Volkner explained Cyrus's wishes to her.

"That so?" she asked. "Kind of a disappointment. Good thing we got a new member of the gang then, eh?"

"Whatever..."

Gardenia sighed and stood up, turning around to walk toward her bed. But at that moment, something fell out of her back pocket.

"Dropped something," Volkner said.

"Oh... oh! Look at this," she said. "Met this girl in the Contest Hall. So nice. Took a picture with her from some photographer."

Volkner reluctantly accepted the photograph. He drew in sharp breathe.

Gardenia stood next to a girl in a red dress. The face of this girl was all too familiar, and the horror of it was confirmed by the signature.

"_Best Wishes to Gardenia on her travels!_

_signed, Mana Aname"_

_**Author's Notes: So here we are. One heck of an eventful chapter, eh? We meet Rydel, Bebe, Jasmine joins our crew, Cyrus leaves it, and Mana makes her comeback in a sinister and enigmatic way. So fun. =D**_


	9. Pop goes the Volkner

**SINNOH STORIES**

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

Author's Notes: I apologize for the late chapter. I've been having fun with my new, shiny bout of writer's block! Plus I've been reading another fan fiction. A very long one at that – Digital Skitty (his ffnet username anyways)'s "Pedestal". Suggest giving it a shot while you wait for more of my amazing story. =p

[[Chapter 8: Pop goes the Volkner]]

The trio of Volkner, Gardenia, and Jasmine was walking away from the busy city of Hearthome, yet Volkner was the only one who felt something unique – a sort of loneliness that he had never felt before in his life. It wasn't a romantic loneliness, it wasn't a loneliness for friendship... it was... well, he didn't quite know the words.

It felt as if he were leaving his destiny behind; a blue haired teenager called Cyrus. A piece of his heart was with him, and he meant it in the least homosexual way possible. But it was as if the Gods themselves had plopped him right down next to Cyrus for a purpose, he just couldn't figure out what this purpose was.

The speaking of a woman annoyed him out of his thoughts.

"... Excuse me?"

Okay, it was a little girl. He recognized it now to belong to Bebe, the girl who's Eevee she had saved the previous day.

He turned around with the rest of the group and found himself a bit worried (he himself couldn't believe that either) at the sight of such despair in her hazel eyes. An Eevee was in one hand, being walked, while the other hand had a Pokeball in it.

"Go on," she said, extending her hand to Volkner. "This here is... well, he was recently born. I don't want to part with him so soon, but I think it's best... he's an Eevee. I want you to train him, Mister Denzi."

Gardenia and Jasmine looked to him expectantly – as if they expected him to take it or something. He scoffed, and turned around to begin to walk off. That was, until she said something to him.

"Eevee can grow strong, you know. They have seven different possible evolutions. He would make a great addition to your team..."

He immediately turned around and swiped the ball from her extended hand. She smiled at this, nodded and began to turn.

"Thanks," Volkner said, before turning around himself. "See ya, Bebe."

Gardenia looked at him like he had grown a third eye; Volkner knew she had already assessed him to be a cruel, cold-hearted bastard when he hadn't healed Chuseph as quick as she would have liked. He had done that solely to shock her and throw her off.

Right?

* * *

Gardenia's real concern lay with the fact that he HAD accepted the Pokemon. He had shown some appreciation for once in his life, but that was likely because he had also just received a rare and potentially powerful Pokemon just for a little running around a city.

She worried deeply that he would abuse the poor little newborn, and so she would enforce it strictly that if he were to go off on his own, the Pokemon would be in her care. She brought the subject up now.

"Volkner," she said. "I understand why ya took the lil' guy, but make me a deal here. I'll 'low ya to go off on yer own when we're in towns, but the lil' guy goes with ME when you do."

He was surprisingly agreeable to that.

"Sure," he muttered. "Why the hell not?"

* * *

The group traveled swiftly to the route east of Hearthome, heading toward the next destination on the map, Solaceon Town: town of the Pokemon Daycare, newspaper station, and ancient ruins. Three different things to interest three different people.

Jasmine was interested in the daycare. She had always been a one for raising Pokemon, as she could befriend even giants like her Onix.

Gardenia was always a sucker for the press. She wanted to check out the workings of the building.

Volkner had Mana on his mind. He had let the spectacle of last night go as to not inform Gardenia or Jasmine just what had happened to him, but he wanted to see if Ancient Ruins in Sinnoh had been the reason he had been dropped here; probably not, as the nagging feeling in his heart told him, but he would see.

His train of thought was interrupted when an odd figure skidded across the dirt in front of them, taking an almost shy pose. The girls giggled at this, finding it amusing. Volkner just wanted to move past this stranger and go on, but he stood up and straightened himself off, blocking their path.

He was about five foot three in height, and looked around their age. His head was covered in a tangled mess of green hair like the vines of a shiny Tangela, this covered by a white hat with a black rim. His clothing was a simple combination of a navy blue hoody and a pair of jeans, and his feet were covered by a pair of black sandals.

"... Sorry 'bout that," he murmured. The group struggled to hear him, drawing in closer. He flinched sheepishly at this, but allowed them to get close enough – even doing the courtesy of speaking a bit louder for them. "I just wanted to get close before you guys ran out of the way... nearly fell on my butt, though..."

Gardenia was the one to step forward and nod her head, still stifling laughter. "It's okay," she said. "Is there something you wanted from us?"

"Yes," the oddity of nature admitted. "I was up in the trees, looking for my Caterpie – I did find her! – and then I saw you guys pass by. I just felt..." As he spoke, he reached toward the belt around his waist, clipping off a ball from it. "... like I wanted to battle, you."

The pause was for his other hand to lift up and point to Volkner.

"The hell?" Volkner questioned. "Why me?"

The man shrugged. "You just look like someone I'd enjoy battling." Oddly enough, when he said this, a small glint was evident in the man's gaze. He shrugged it off. "By the way, my name is Jordan Summers. Yours?"

"... Volkner Denzi. My comrades Gardenia Natane and Jasmine... Mikan, wasn't it?"

Jasmine uttered a simple, "Yes," in response.

Volkner nodded and continued with a sigh. "But I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I? Fine. We'll battle."

Jordan grinned widely at this and extended the hand with the Pokeball in it, thumb over the release switch. He seemed to be awaiting Volkner's move.

So Volkner would oblige him. "Let's go, Chuseph!"

"C'mon out, Maggie!~"

Two flashes of red light occurred, and in the central point shared between both competitors, two Pokemon were formed.

The name was perhaps the single most uncreative thing Volkner had ever heard in his life. Only his Chuseph came in at a very close second; at least it had some creativity to it, no matter how slight.

Maggie was a Magnemite. A small hunk of circular stainless steel with a white circle in the center, where a single dot rested like a pupil in an eye. Just below this white circle were two screws, while another screw rested atop its head, slightly protruding. Two horseshoe magnets extended from it, one on each side.

Chuseph, of course, had evolved recently. He was now a good bit bigger, two stubby arms extending from his body. On his cheeks were two circular splotches of red, just below his black-button eyes. His ears were pointed, tipped in black His tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.

The two electric Pokemon stared each other down intensely, Chuseph on all fours and emitting a low, "Chuuuu..."

Maggie, however, simply floated there lifelessly.

"Electric versus Electric. Pretty interesting turnout, Mister Denzi..."

"Very much so, Mister Summers," he responded. He was smiling in spite of himself.

"First command goes to you, Mister Denzi," Jordan said. His smile still remained, never having faded.

"Fair enough," Volkner said. He was, in all honesty, a bit apprehensive about this because he knew that Chuseph had no non-electric attacking moves. He knew nothing about this Magnemite, and though for the moment it appeared as if they were on equal terms because both were of the same type, it could easily pull out a non-electric move and slaughter Chuseph. "Chuseph, Sweet Kiss!"

Chuseph moved toward Maggie in leaps and bounds, before finally planting a simple kiss against the Magnemite's "cheek". This quickly caused more than Volkner thought it would: it confused the Magnemite like it was supposed to, but it went haywire.

It darted around the area in a circle, buzzing its loudest, before falling to the ground right on its "face". It lifted up again, shook itself like a wet dog, much to Volkner's awe (he didn't think such a thing was possible of a Magnemite), then awaited its master's command.

"... Okay, then," :Jordan said. "Gravity, Maggie!"

It worked past the mild confusion of the Sweet Kiss, and began to work its magnets together. Once the tips touched, everyone in the area felt suddenly heavier; the Pokemon even more so. Chuseph cried out in shock.

But in the proccess, the Magnemite was pulled down to the ground.

"Stupid move, Summers!" Volkner said. "Chuseph, Volt Tackle!"

Chuseph began to run forward as fast as he could under the invisible pressure, his entire body surrounded by an electrical yellow aura. He leaped slightly off the ground just moments before contact – and was frozen.

"Good job, Maggie! Now, keep the Magnet Rise up, but subtract the Pikachu with a fierce Magnet Bomb!"

+Against the gravity, Magnemite was rising into the air and carrying Chuseph with it. A couple of seconds later, though, Chuseph was screeching out in surprise as a silver ball of energy burst forward from the two magnets touching together, and his struggling was no more.

Grimacing, Volkner returned Chuseph to switch him out with Elekid.

Elekid clashed his hands together excitedly, his face showing slight signs of strain from the gravity in the area: but he wasn't going to let it get in his way, obviously, as evidenced by the fact that he jumped from side to side with his fists barred like a boxer.

"Alright! Cross Chop, Elekid!" Volkner commanded, and the yellow creature with prong-ears responded all too eagerly. He ran forward and leaped up toward the Magnemite, barely managing to reach its height but managing it all the same. He crossed his arms over each other in x-formation, before releasing them, striking the metallic skin of Maggie with an unrivaled strength.

"... A critical hit," Jordan murmured. Magnemite had fallen. Jordan returned it, and switched in his next Pokemon – or tried too, anyway.

"Go Gallade!" a voice screamed, and Volkner recoiled, turning around to see the face of his kidnapper back in the Valley Windworks. He froze and then heard his ears pop, as the green and white Pokemon dashed forward and grabbed him by the hand, before disappearing into the day; Volkner alongside him.

* * *

"Flint, darling," the voice called. "Did you pack clean underwear? Proper toiletries? Burn Heals? Potions?"

Flint ran a hand through his thick red hair, turning around to look at the kind old woman who had sheltered him through the night's storm, and had even been as kind as to let him sleep-in and eat a Brunch with her. She was such an awful worry wart, though... he sighed, and nodded to her.

"Yes, ma'am! Thanks for letting me stay with you, and for letting me take a few things. I promise I will come back here some day and pay you back!" Flint called out.

The kind old woman simply smiled and waved. "Don't worry about it, dear. Good luck."

Flint waved back, turning around once again with his Magmar out at his side. "Alright, Mags!" he said cheerfully. "We'll jog for half an hour, then rest. Should be plenty excersise, right?"

"Marrrr!~" Mags responded cheerfully.

And so it would be done, the two of them turning back to wave one more time to the kind old hostess, before they began to jog off into the forest.


	10. Intermission I  Revelations

**Sinnoh Stories**

**The Legend of Volkner**

**Intermission - Revelations**

_The smell of smoke and the heat of the flames were all that the boy knew. He knew other things in the deep recesses of his mind, of course, but at the time, these were the only things he could differentiate from the gray seas of semi-consciousness. He crawled, feeling the heat on his skin and inhaling the nauseating smell of smoke, coughing loudly. He felt liquid splatter onto his arm. Warm, sticky; blood._

_He continued to crawl despite it. His muscles ached, his skin was agonizingly searing, and the world around him was full of chaos. But he couldn't tell a thing._

_But he only knew he hated that blue-haired man riding on the head of the beast, because that blue-haired man was the controller of that beast and the beast had done this. He had done it all, and he wanted to make the blue-haired man pay._

_He looked up to see white. A white dress. Brown hair. He assumed it was a girl because girls wore dresses... the girl grabbed him by the hand._

"_Child, come with me!" she nearly screamed. The boy was unable to follow her wishes, though... he couldn't move on his own anymore. His body was writhing with the white-hot pain, the agony of damaged tissue and the acrid smell of smoking flesh._

_The next thing he knew, he lay there on the ground, a small group of people gathered around him. He was numb. The white-dressed brown-hair girl knelt at his side, a hand on his own. Her touch was tender, soothing._

_He opened his mouth to speak. He didn't know why he spoke these words, but it was almost as if his mouth was running off autopilot, demanding that he say them. A simple combination._

"_... pick … me ..." he croaked, and then the blackness came as his life slipped away from him. The last thing he heard was a simple sigh._

Lisa let loose a small sigh, removing a finger from the forehead of the green leafy creature, listening to it utter a small, "Biii..." before it flew off.

"I understand. Thank you," she whispered. She leaped off the tree limb and landed on the ground with a soft thud. "Boy... yet another situation you'll require -me- to get you out of."

She kept a soft touch on the single Pokeball attached to her belt. She supposed she would use this little girl again... she pressed the silver release switch, and immediately grasped a small pink paw.

The creature buzzed around in the air, taking her with it. Lisa wasn't able to keep herself from smiling.

"Myuuu!~" the creature cooed. Lisa knew this was an understanding, "okay," and she closed her eyes to allow the creature to draw her off into the land of dreams.

_She landed in the midst of a volcanic wasteland. The ground was dark and cracked, small pools of magma visibly flowing inside these cracks. She cautiously stepped around them, and searched across the landscape for the one she needed to speak to. The landscape was dotted with volcanoes, large brown masses of land with plumes of lava spitting out of their circular tops. In the middle of four, she spotted her man._

_He was tall and handsome, though his hairstyle was a bit freaky. He reminded her of the boy._

"_... A beautiful young lady," the man said. "In my land? It's dangerous out here, Miss – allow me to take you out."_

_Almost immediately, a Rapidash spontaneously appeared from nowhere, the man riding on top of it. _

_She lifted up a hand to show her disapproval._

"_Flint," she said. "You're in a dream."_

"_Perhaps so; only in my dreams could I see a beautiful-"_

"_There is no perhaps. There is only so."_

"_... I see. And why do you tell me this?"_

"_Because it's the only way I can communicate with you. Call me Mana."_

_Flint raised an eyebrow. "I see. A pleasure, Mana."_

"_You're close to a friend of mine. He's gotten himself into a bit of trouble. I can't go myself: so I need you to save him."_

"_And why me, dear Mana?"_

"_You'll grow into a great man, Flint. He is currently trapped in the Solaceon Town Ruins. When you get to the town, head south immediately. You'll find two REAL damsels in distress, and an unconscious man. Save them, then go save the boy Volkner Denzi."_

"_That doesn't-"_

"_Goodbye, Flint."_

_Mana snapped her fingers and disappeared._

Flint awoke with a startled scream, and leaped up to his feet. He felt a sense of urgency. He picked up his supplies, threw them into his backpack and threw that over his shoulders, and finally he bolted off toward the south.

"Destination, Solaceon..." he found himself murmuring.

"Maggg, mar!" Mags, his Magmar, responded as it jogged happily beside him.


	11. Flint's in the Fray! or not

Volkner pressed a hand against the rough wall to pull himself up to his feet, groaning lightly as the debris in the area pressed up against his palm and even broke his skin a little. But it was the least of his concerns; it was a bit more important that, towering above him was a Gallade, its elbow-blades barred fiercely as if it was intent on slitting Volkner's throat with them.

But as he blinked, the creature disappeared, and Volkner realized the fate he was being left to. He was in a dimly lit place, only barely able to see a few steps in front of him, and he probably wouldn't be able to find his way out. He was on his own here, and he didn't imagine there were any Wild Pokemon here. So he was also more than likely without food or water.

He had been taken here to die an agonizingly slow death.

"Damn it," Volkner cursed. "If I had Chuseph or Elekid, I could get out of here... but Chuseph's pretty much useless unconscious, and Elekid was left at the battle scene... I get the luck of being stuck in this dingy, dratted place with only a baby Eevee!"

He kicked the wall, and immediately recoiled, falling on his bum and grabbing for his foot. Despite the ancient appearance of the place, it was made of a very sturdy brick it seemed. He cried out in frustration, before turning to hope he was wrong – and walked into the dark hallways of this unknown labyrinth. 

* * *

Flint barreled through Solaceon Town like his life depended on it; he didn't know why, but he felt like just maybe some other lives did. He remembered he had a dream. It was vivid, yet he couldn't remember much of its message - just that he had run into an odd girl who told him something. Perhaps this was it? He doubted it. After all, he was the flaming fire expert, not a psychic like Kanto's newly appointed Gym Leader Sabrina.

"Young man, slow down some, you'll hurt yourself!" a voice cried out. He was moving so fast that it was not from a decipherable source: someone dressed in blue had simply become a flash of the color to him as he passed him or her on his way through the very small little village.

He arrived at its end in no more than a few minutes. His breathing got harder by the second, but he could have cared less, and he was sure Mags could go on for quite a while longer. He turned a sharp curve to avoid a ditch, while Mags just hopped right on over it - proving his point. He allowed himself a choked laugh to somehow escape him, and turned another sharp curve around to go back on path. Yet another curve came around, and when he crossed it, he saw the battle scene.

Two women were locked in what appeared to be an intense Pokemon Battle with a young man: his hair was a dark shade of blue, down to his shoulders with bangs nearly covering his eyes. His face held an aura of malice to it that made Flint shudder through his gaps.

The women were standing side by side. One had long brown hair down past her shoulders, unstyled, with a red dress on. The other had brown khakis of a similar color to the other woman's hair, a green shirt and a black cape-like thing draped over her shoulders. Her hair was a caramel brown. In front of them, the caramel brown girl had herself a Turtwig, dancing around the field to avoid attacks by one of the opponents Pokemon - a white and green knight-like Pokemon he recognized as a Gallade. The regular brown girl had the gigantic rock snake that he recognized as Onix, slamming its tail down forcefully, causing small tremors in the process, in the spot where a white-skinned Pokemon with a bit of green that looked like it was wearing a dress was at the time: it kept teleporting around the battle field to avoid the crushing attacks. He believed it was Gallade's (typically) female counterpart, Gardevoir.

Flint reached toward his belt and unhooked a Pokeball. He allowed himself just a few more seconds to regain his breath before yelling out to gain some attention, "Flare, come on out! Mags, Flare, both of you help them out!"

He tossed his arm forward and from the thrown Pokeball came a small red Pokemon, standing on all fours, its tan mane seeming to waver due to the air around it suddenly getting very, very hot. It was the fire-type evolution of Eevee: Flareon.

The two women turned around and glanced at Flint - before they seemed to simply enjoy the fact that they were going to be helped.

"Turtwig, make room for Flareon!" the caramel brown woman yelled, and her Turtwig consented with ease. It appeared to be very tired, and Flint nodded toward the girl.

"Return it. I'll take over. You too, snake-girl."

Snake-girl seemed a little hesitant, but she too returned her Pokemon after the caramel brown girl did as well.

Flint ran forward, and glanced at their attacker.

"Heh. Attacking two innocent little ladies, eh?" Flint said between breaths. "I oughta beat your butt into the ground for such a heinous crime."

"..." The attacker did not speak. He did not need to anyway: he had two psychic types that were fully evolved. It meant they were experienced, and probably didn't need to be commanded.

So Flint simply decided to attack.

"Flare, attack Gallade with Nitro Charge! Mags, burn 'em up with Lava Plume!"

Flare began stomping the ground with his front two paws for a few moments, his body covered in an orange aura that radiated heat. Then he rushed forward toward Gallade.

Mags opened up his mouth, looked skyward, and shot three bursts of a chunky looking liquid upward into the sky, where it came raining down: Gardevoir teleported out of the way, and the lava landed on the ground with a hot hiss. Gallade lifted up his arm to provide a protective shield... and Flare was hit with the third.

Flint smiled.

The intensity of the orange aura around Flare's body increased, and he slammed right into an unsuspecting Galade made too busy to dodge by the flames pouring down on him, knocking him down to his knees and eventually right onto his face. The assaulter recalled his Pokemon with a scowl, and then finally spoke.

"You're going to pay for that. Gardevoir, keep dodging attacks with teleport, but use Calm Mind," he said. His voice was low, seething.

Flint felt an odd sense of dread at this; he'd have to end it quick. He returned Flare, and sent out his next Pokemon: a Pokemon with black fur that clung so tightly to its skin that it appeared to be exactly that - it's skin, dark and leathery. The Pokemon had a skull pattern on its head, and fierce, piercing eyes. It was his Houndour, a loyal partner.

"Hounds, c'mere," Flint said and then knelt down to whisper something in his ear. The hound nodded and ran over toward the battle field.

"You next, Mags," Flint murmured, and repeated the process. Mags ran over back to the battlefield, and Flint grinned as he spoke his next words. "Let the battle commence!"

Gardevoir was already in the midst of calming herself. She still seemed to have an aura of knowing about her though, and this made both Hounds and Mags look at each other with a bit of anxiousness. The plan must commence, or so they had been told, so they would do it either way.

Mags thrust his neck outward, pursed his lips and sent a stream of fire in the Gardevoir's path. The blazing beam was dodged with ease by a teleport off to the side.

Hounds' role was now to come in. He sent forth a second Flamethrower attack, dodged by moving down to the southwest with another teleport.

Mags and Hounds both sent forth their own individual attacks next: A dark wave of shimmering energy zipped forward and intervened with the path of a flaming mass. Flamethrower and Dark Pulse combined into one attack...

... and at that moment, the plan actually failed.

Not negatively so, Flint thought with a dropped jaw. It was still good this happened. But his original plan was much different...

...instead, the man returned his Pokemon.

"... Understood. It's -your- bounty," the man muttered.

The man then turned around and began to walk away. Flint held out a hand and was prepared to go running after him, but the two girls stepped forward, the brown haired snake-girl with a hand out on his shoulder, caramel brown girl speaking up.

"Thanks fer yer help, stranger, but let's let that guy go. He's pretty tough, and we'll be pushin' our luck," she said, her thick country accent ringing through Flint's ears and filling him with a mild annoyance: he hated to admit it, but she was right.

"Right... so, can I get the pleasure of knowing you lovely ladies and your names?" Flint asked. "If so, I might be able to provide you with a bit of... information."

Caramel stepped back a bit, and brown snake ended up staying in the same place but folding her arms over her chest.

"Gardenia," Caramel said. "And my friend here..." She pointed to snake-girl. "Is Jasmine."

"Flint Oba," Flint said. "And for the bit of information, your friend is in the Solaceon Ruins." 

* * *

Volkner lay there wallowing in his self pity. He had been searching for what felt like hours, and he was hungry, thirsty and even going as far as to long for some companionship. So he sat there, and pulled out Eevee's Pokeball, preparing to see the little creature for the first time.

It sat there after being released, staring at him curiously, its black eyes wide and almost adorable enough to the point where Volkner smiled. It was a he, Volkner believed.

"... Hey little guy," Volkner murmured, allowing himself to extend a hand. "You get the wonderful ****in' company of good ol' me in this god damned place."

Despite his foul language, Eevee didn't seem to mind and ended up approaching Volkner's hand, gently rubbing his head against his palm. And oddly enough, Volkner found himself liking it.

He shuddered and drew his hand away. "... Don't think you'll get that often," he muttered. Eevee replied by plopping soundly down onto the stone floor and staring up at Volkner happily.

"Veee!~" it chirped.

Volkner smiled, then reversed it. What the hell? He was becoming rather attracted to the little guy already - he'd have to fix that. He slipped his thumb onto the release/return switch of his Pokeball, and returned the brown-furred critter before getting up and continuing to explore the area.

* * *

Flint sighed with annoyance. "For the last time, I'm not revealing my sources! And it doesn't make me a bad guy! I helped you out, didn't I?"

"... Touche," Gardenia said. "Fine. But yer not goin' with us to find Volkner - I ain't gonna trust ya -that- much."

Flint moved past her and tossed something backward. "Fine. But if yer guy is really an electric-buff like you say he is, take it to him. I found it explorin' the place, and I don't need it, sooo..."

Flint walked off, Mags walking happily beside him.

* * *

Gardenia looked at the object with a bit of awe. It was a light green stone with a yellow indentation in the shape of a thunderbolt in the middle.

She sighed, pocketing it and turning toward Jasmine. "Alright," she said. "Let's go find ourselves a Volkner."

* * *

So there we go. Chapter 9. It was a bit rushed - I'll admit, but that's probably because I have little time and I wanted to finish this. 


	12. Out of the Ruins and into the Fire

**SINNOH STORIES**

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

**Chapter 10: Out of the Ruins and into the Fire  
**

* * *

Volkner lay in the middle of a stone floor, his body shifting in its sleep-ridden state as it urged for more comfort; in return, though, it merely ended up causing more discomfort as skin rubbed against brick. Volkner would be in pain when he woke up. But the shifting and groaning he was doing was not entirely for the result of a search for comfort. His mind was also going through a rough state of turmoil, dreams running through his head as fast as a bullet train.

* * *

_"Hey, Volk! C'mon, guy, it'll be fun," his voice chirped happily. "I promise, it's perfectly safe!"_

"... You sure?" Volkner said uneasily, twiddling his thumbs. "I like the small, cute ones... momma has them all around the house, we can go and see them."

"Screw that!" the boy said. "I wanna see something big, something strong! Like a Scyther, or a Tyranitar!"

"Ivan, it'll be-"

"Nonsense!" Ivan said. "It's perfectly safe if we stay our distance!"

Volkner wasn't so sure. The prospect of two powerful Pokemon in the same area was disturbing to him - he didn't want to ever see anything other than his mother's Abra or the newly born Pichu his mother had bought for him (he couldn't quite remember its nickname). But then again, he supposed if he wanted to ever be COOL, he'd have to do something to prove his worth.

Reluctantly, he nodded.

The two of them jogged off toward the outskirts of Olivine City, and as soon as they did, they hit the grass and began to crawl on their stomachs close to the scene that kept quite a few people away (Volkner had been outside with Ivan when the news was delivered; he had yet to receive orders from his mother to return home, probably for the sole reason of being unable to find him).

They reached the spot where the fight that people all throughout Olivine whispered about was going on.

There were two green Pokemon. One was smaller than the other, but still about human-sized, a pair of small wings on its back and scythes for arms. Its joints were tan, looking a little frail.

But that frailness in its appearance was denied by the sight of its opponent. It was locked in a fierce fight with a large green Pokemon with a blue belly, spikes running down its back and a thick tail.

The scythe-arm Pokemon jumped up and made a slice at the face of the spike-back, and the spike-back jumped back, the ground shaking under its weight. Spike-back placed its arms in front of it, opening its mouth wide. A pulsing beam of black energy was sent toward Scythe-arm, who dove aside to dodge it.

Ivan's eyes shone with a mixture of excitement and fear, and Volkner could smell only the fear from his friend's and his own sweat. He closed his eyes as another jump by Spike-back shook the earth beneath them. He could have sworn he felt the slightly elevated ledge they lay on loosen a little.

The Scythe-arm darted by the Spike-back and dragged an arm across its stomach. It cut open a tough hide slightly, blood splattering the ground in front of it.

Volkner opened his eyes to this and flinched.

"This is so cool, ain't it, Volk?" Ivan whispered excitedly.

He didn't get an answer. He apparently didn't expect to, as he didn't press the issue further.

Little did Volkner know these would be the last words Ivan Firme would ever speak to him.

Spike-back tried to lash his tail downward as Scythe-arm performed a U-turn, returning to its original spot, and missed. The ground shook, and the ground beneath Volkner and Ivan broke entirely loose and began to plummet.

Volkner and Ivan screamed. They were plummeting right into the battle arena. They weren't that high up, but still, their impact would leave them with a few moments of being winded before they could flee... Volkner was terrified.

The Spike-back, at that time, released another beam of pulsating black energy. It missed and struck their little land-board, and it exploded violently beneath them. Volkner was sent upward with the force: Ivan continued to fall. Volkner saw it happen with his own eyes.

Ivan Firme was propelled forward. He landed right in between the two battling Pokemon, -right- as Scythe-arm was aiming an attack.

The attack hit Ivan instead.

Volkner couldn't scream. He couldn't do a damn thing with the explosion having injured him; he had no breathe left to use. He hit the ground and couldn't get the sight of his best friend being cut through like tissue paper, the ground turning from brown to crimson... and he watched with horror as the two Pokemon ignored his corpse.

Volkner hit the ground with a thud, and lay there, the image embedded in his mind forever. Ivan Firme, cut clean in two.

Ivan Firme, his best friend, dead because of a simple quarrel.

He heard two things before he lost consciousness: the sounds of wheels screeching to a halt, and the sound of what sounded like dart guns.

"A kid- one's dead... hey, this one's got a chest rising! He's alive, get a fuckin' ambulance John!"

* * *

Volkner awoke with a scream. His entire body was soaking wet and filled with a pulsating pain, most of it coming from his aching heart. He saw the image of his best friend once more - the main pain came from his heart. He could tell it wasn't just sweat rolling down his face. He was crying.

He stood up and fingered the Pokeball in his pocket with a scowl.

* * *

"... G-...Gardenia, can we rest, please?" Jasmine asked. Her legs ached miserably from all the walking she had been doing: she wasn't used to this kind of excersise all in one day, having started walking from Hearthome all the way to the Solaceon Ruins and through basically with no rest.

Gardenia herself was tired, so she nodded.

Jasmine leaned up against a wall and allowed its cool surface to cool off her body a bit. She shifted her feet... and felt one sink into the ground, and the wall behind her flip, her along with it.

Within seconds, she was on the other side of the wall. It had been a trap door of sorts - probably designed to trick robbers, she thought.

She stood up and brushed herself off, reaching into the pocket of the shorts she wore beneath her long red dress, pulling out a Pokeball. As she was preparing to release the Pokemon inside, she heard the groan of a familiar voice, whispering curses.

It was Volkner.

"Volkner?" she yelled, her voice high. "Volkner, is that you?"

And, conveniently enough, when she said that, he walked into view.

He was disheveled, his face red and a bit bloody. He was obviously sweaty, and a good bet in Jasmine's eyes would be that he was disoriented.

She ran over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Volkner? Volkner, are you okay...?"

"... I'd bet my life you aren't real," he muttered.

"Then I suppose... then I suppose you'll be dying soon, Volkner," Jasmine responded tensely.

He reached up and brushed her cheek with a raw red hand. He winced at that.

Jasmine's flesh went redder in an instant. The feel of those raw hands brushing against her cheek was almost... pleasant. She stepped back and placed the Pokeball in her hand out in front of her.

"... I s'pose I will be," Volkner murmured, right before collapsing to the ground.

Jasmine gasped, but released the tan Pokemon inside the ball.

"Abbie," Jasmine said. "Take us to Gardenia."

The Abra teleported them to the other side of the wall.

Gardenia turned to face them, seeing Volkner on the floor alongside an Abra, Jasmine towering above the two of them.

"There you are- you found him? Is he okay?" Gardenia gasped.

The Elekid that had been trotting alongside Gardenia ran over to his trainer, his eyes shining with what seemed to be genuine concern.

"I don't know," Jasmine said. "But I believe it's time for Abbie to take us to the Solaceon Town Pokemon Center. Isn't that right Abbie?"

Abbie snored. But they all disappeared, reappearing in a totally different setting. Their surroundings went from yellow to a pale gray, a few people passing by. Solaceon was a small town, so not that many could be expected - but it also meant they almost always had a doctor available.

One happened to be passing by as they teleported in. He was tall with a head of black hair, a white labcoat buttoned up on his torso and a pair of khaki pants covering his lower half. A stethoscope was slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, my!" the man said, running over to them. "Is this boy okay?"

"He was lost in the ruins," Gardenia said quickly. "I'd imagine he's done gotten pretty tired. Plus he's awfully red and a bit bloody."

The man seemed strong, as he knelt by Volkner and carried the thirteen-year-old in his arms. He leaped up and began to move toward the Pokemon Center's desk.

"Yes, ma'am?" the man said. "I'm assuming you'd have a medical room available for us?"

The woman behind the desk, who had been typing up something on her computer, looked at the man and nodded.

"Alright, Doctor Yulmen. Take two-oh-three," she said, reaching beneath the desk then extending a hand, keys now grasped in them.

Doctor Yulmen took them and nodded. "Thank you."

The three of them moved up the steps to the right of the desk to arrive at Room 203.

* * *

Volkner began to awaken, feeling pain rush all over his body, as a firm voice rang through his ears.

"I believe your friend will be fine with a few days of rest," it said. "The wounds on his body are few in number, and though his skin will be sore for a while, he's not gonna be in pain for more than a couple hours I imagine."

"That's good..." a shy voice said. Jasmine, Volkner recognized - that shy voice was unmistakable. He kind of liked the sound of it.

"Alright! Our lil' boy'll be just fine, huh?" a thick accent said. Also unmistakable was the annoying voice of Gardenia. "Sucks he'll be sore, but ain't nothin' big, right?"

"Right," the firm voice confirmed. "So, is there anything else you two need?"

"No thank you, sir- Oh, my, he's waking up..."

Volkner, at this point, had sat up and was allowing himself to wake up. He looked at the owner of the firm voice - a doctor.

"Ah, here we go! Good evening, boy," the doctor said. "How are you feeling?"

"... Like -shit-," Volkner retorted. Jasmine flushed a deep shade of red, and Gardenia laughed out loud.

"Well, you'll be feeling like shit for a very short time. You oughta take a few days rest, but you should be able to be back to your exploring - as these girls told me got you in this situation - any time you'd like," the doctor said.

Volkner nodded slowly. "Get out," he said. "I'd like to rest some more with my friends."

Gardenia cocked an eyebrow at the phrase. But the doctor nodded.

"Very well. I hope you feel better, Mister.."

"Volkner," Volkner responded. "Volkner Denzi."

"Mister Denzi, then." The doctor smiled and left the room. Oddly enough, Gardenia followed suit.

"Be right back," she said.

So for about five minutes, there were three things major present in that room: Volkner, Jasmine, and an awkward silence.

And then Gardenia returned and sat. Volkner spoke up.

"What happened?"

"Some guy. Sent out his Gallade and it teleported you - we think he was tryin' 'ta kill ya," Gardenia said.

"Figured that much out, genius," Volkner muttered.

"He said it was a bounty."

"... Ah."

"Some guy came back and helped us - said his name was Flint, and he knew everything somehow. Do ya know 'im?" Gardenia asked.

"Never," Volkner said.

"... Right. Well, we told him ya trained primarily electric types, 'cept fer yer Eevee - so he gave ya this," she responded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a green stone with a yellow thunderbolt indentation, tossing it to Volkner and flinching as she realized what she had just done. "... Er, sorry."

Volkner flinched as the firm stone hit his raw palm, but he nodded. "... Whatever," he said. "What is it?"

"It's a Thunder Stone," Jasmine said. "Thunder Stones can evolve one of two Pokemon I know of - Pikachu or Eevee."

"... Both of which I have," Volkner murmured. "Decisions, decisions."

"Ya ain't gotta use it immediately," Gardenia said.

"But I'm gonna," Volkner responded snappily. He reached into his pocket and looked at the ball for a second - it was Eevee's.

He placed his thumb on the release switch and watched as the ball expanded, sending out a flash of red light onto the floor. A small, brown body appeared, furry with pointed ears and black bead eyes.

But it wouldn't be that way for long. Volkner extended the hand he held the Thunder Stone in, and after a few seconds, Eevee began to glow a faint shade of white.

The whiteness began to grow in intensity. Soon, Eevee was not at all visible, merely a ball of glowing white light.

Then it all faded away.

What stood there was a yellow Pokemon with spiked fur, and a white collar-like patch of fur around its neck. Its eyes had gotten smaller, even more beady now. Like Eevee, it had large pointed ears.

"... Jolteon," a voice said.

Volkner looked to the door to see an all too familiar face there.

Gardenia looked up and smiled. "Mana! C'mon in!"

Jasmine looked up as well and allowed herself a smile. She remained silent, though.

Mana stepped in, her body covered in a long white dress similar to Jasmine's. Her brown hair made her almost indecipherable from her: the only differences being the color of her dress and he style of her hair. It was tied up into a ponytail, while Jasmine's was unstyled.

"Mana, what's up?" Gardenia asked, getting up and wrapping the girl in an embrace. "What're ya doin' here?"

"Oh, it's just... oh, Jasmine, wasn't it? I saw you in the contests in Hearthome... you did good," Mana said, nodding.

"Thank you..." Jasmine said with a smile.

"And this is..." Mana said, glancing at Volkner. She used this moment to glare daggers at him as well; basically telling him not to say a word.

"... V-...Volkner Denzi," Volkner murmured.

Mana extended her left hand. Volkner grabbed it and shook it lightly, and Mana retracted it.

"Nice to meet you, Volkner. I'm Mana, as you've probably figured out..."

Volkner shot her a glance that would make a small child cry. She simply smiled.

"Yeah," Volkner said. "... whatever."

"Be nice, Volkner," Gardenia chided.

"No, no, it's okay, Gardenia," Mana replied. "He introduced himself. Nice enough for me. So, what have you been up to?"

"Been travelin' with Volkner 'n' Jasmine here," Gardenia said. "Headin' back to Pastoria so Jasmine can catch a boat back to her home in Olivine."

Volkner had no idea of this. Jasmine was from Olivine?

"Thought we were headed for Veilstone," Volkner piped in.

"In the process we'll be stoppin' by there, yeah," Gardenia said. "Thought I told ya Pastoria was our destination though..."

Volkner wondered for a moment when she became the leader of their little group, but he sighed. Not like he could argue it anyway.

Jolteon leaped up on the bed next to Volkner and sat there. Volkner sighed and returned the Pokemon, before laying back on it and closing his eyes.

"So then, what're ya doin' out here, Mana?" Gardenia asked.

"Well, I was kind of hoping I could ask you guys a favor," Mana said. "You see, I've been traveling around taking the Pokemon Gym Challenge. I was kind of hoping I could join you guys in traveling around for a bit - it's always good experience for a trainer to have company, yes?"

Volkner's eyes shot open.

_... Oh shit._

Gardenia got to her feet and embraced Mana again. "Of course! We're heading around to two cities that have gyms with 'em - we'll be more than happy to let ya join us! Right, Jasmine? Volkner?"

Jasmine nodded. Volkner put up a shaky thumb and immediately drew it back down again. He hadn't meant to do that - he didn't know what made him. He opened his mouth to speak out a firm no, but Gardenia's overexcited squeal quieted him.

He sighed and wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into. 


	13. Shoot for the Stars!

**SINNOH STORIES  
THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

Chapter 11: Shoot for the Stars

Volkner slipped carefully out of his bed, his eyes drooping to half-way being shut. The idea of sleep right now was a welcome one, but he didn't quite know if he'd be able to get it. So instead, he would approach the one person he knew was awake.

She sat in her bed, the light of a lamp illuminating it, a book in hand. As his feet hit the ground, she noticed him, and glared away from her reading.

"Might I ask what's troubling you, Volkner?" she asked.

"You know what it is," Volkner retorted. And he knew she did.

"The dreams of your friend? Or me?" A tone of legitimate curiosity was evident in her voice, and Volkner let loose a frustrated groan.

So she knew of his dreams.

"Of course I do," she responded. "You should know me better than that by now." A grin had crossed her lips, met by a scowl from Volkner.

"Yeah. I suppose so," Volkner said and sat at the edge of her bed. His gaze was piercing; her's soft and soothing. But the soothing effect would not work on him today. It would not work on him ever again.

"Tell me, Volkner," Mana said. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Volkner stared at her for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head. "Tell me."

"I can't quite do that," she responded. "Of course, I could, but... well, it would kind of ruin the point."

Volkner clenched the sheets in his left hand, gritting his teeth. "Don't play with me, girl."

Mana placed a hand over her mouth to stifle an oncoming giggle. "Do you really think I'd talk so cryptically to you, Volkner? I have no idea what you're so angry about."

She did, he knew: she was just playing with him. And it was at that point that Mana lifted a hand and pointed toward Volkner's pocket: his cell phone began to ring. He glared at Mana, and then stood up and walked to a quiet corner, opened up the phone, hit a button and began to speak.

"This is Volkner Denzi speaking," he said. "Who is this, calling at... two fifteen A.M.? Better be good."

"You sound pretty awake to me, Volkner," the voice said.

Volkner's eyes widened. He recognized the voice immediately.

* * *

Cyrus slid a hand against the rock wall as he walked by it, his other hand busy pressing his phone against his ear. A grin was spread across his lips. The sound of a friend's voice was a comfort: for he was alone, but he would be joining the others soon. He wanted to introduce his ideas to the other boy first... for a boy who suffered so, he could tell, would be glad to hear the news.

"Hello, Volkner," Cyrus continued. "It's been a little while, hasn't it?"

"... Cyrus," Volkner muttered. "Hey. Where have you been?"

"Exploring. Learning. I learned some great things."

"Well, good for you... is it important, Cyrus? Can it wait 'till the morning?"

"It is important. I'll cut straight to the point," Cyrus said. "One of the things I learned was a legend. A Legend of a group of five Pokemon: they are the beings of emotion, will power, wisdom, and those who control space and time. Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Palkia and Dialga."

"Okay..." Volkner said. "Your point is?"

"My point is, that when Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie are gathered together, they can easily control the duo of Palkia and Dialga. With those three, one can control space and time's lords."

"... Did you call to give me a bedtime story, Cyrus?" Volkner muttered. Annoyance was obvious in his voice.

"No. You don't get it, do you? If one can capture those three and summon the duo, they can reshape the universe to their ideals... I want to do it, Volkner."

"... You're insane, Cyrus," Volkner said. "How do you plan on doing something like that?"

"I don't know yet. I just know I don't plan on doing it alone. I know for a fact that I can't," Cyrus said. His grin widened to the point of where he thought his lips would stretch and burst. "Which is why I want to make a proposition to you."

"Is that so?" Volkner asked. "And what would that be?"

"I'm going to form a team. It's going to have to be huge, like the Rocket Gang of Kanto - it'll be shunned. It will be criminal. But to defy the law is a cost well-worth it; this team is going to work toward capturing these five Pokemon. And when we do, I will destroy this world."

"Destroy it, Cyrus? What?"

"Destroy it and then reshape it. The world will begin anew under the names of Akagi and Denzi - we will reform the world so that it will be forever without strife. Without suffering. Without pain. We will do the world a great favor, Volkner! Join me as a co-leader... a co-leader to the gang that will shoot to the stars!"

"... You're utterly insane, C-cyrus," Volkner whispered suddenly. He had gotten a reaction to this incident. Perhaps it was awe.

"... Call me back some time soon, Volkner. Take your time to think it over. Introduce it to the woman... uhm, Gardenia, wasn't it? We three can talk it over, perfect the idea. What do you say-"

Cyrus was met with a harsh click. Volkner had hung up on him... it was slightly frustrating, he had to admit, but he supposed not all had the capacity of mind to understand his plan like he did. He would give him time to think it over.

And if he denied him... well, Cyrus didn't know what he would do. 

* * *

Volkner snapped his phone shut and thrust it into his pocket, eyes wide. He couldn't recall, but the terminology of what Cyrus had said sounded oddly familiar to him.

He glared over to Mana, who was staring back at him. He walked over to her and sat down at the edge of the bed once again.

"Who was it?" she asked teasingly.

"... You know who it was," Volkner murmured.

"Actually, I really don't - I'm not quite -that- talented."

"... It was Cyrus," he said. "A friend."

She cocked an eyebrow, and a bit of harshness suddenly entered her eyes. Very uncharacteristic of her. "The boy who was in the Valley Windworks with you?"

"Yeah. We traveled for a bit - hey, how did you know about that?" Volkner asked. It was, for some reason, surprising to him.

"Even people like me read newspapers, Volkner," she said.

"... Right," Volkner said. "... Anyways, we traveled for a bit, then Cyrus decided to go his own way and us our own."

Mana simply nodded. "Go back to bed, Volkner."

Oddly enough, Volkner found himself wishing to listen. He slipped off the edge of Mana's bed and over toward his own, where he laid his head down on the pillow and shut his eyes.

But he did not get a wink of sleep. 

* * *

The four traveling trainers slipped out of the Pokemon Center early the next morning: Gardenia peppy and excited, Jasmine her usual calm and happy demeanor, Mana being the same. Only Volkner was in a bad mood, trudging out of the Solaceon Town Pokemon Center with absolutely no rest from the previous night. His mind was too focused on other things.

So, because of him, the group moved oddly slow.

"C'mon, Volkner," Gardenia whined. "Let's pick up the pace! Put one foot in front'a the other! Left, left, left right left! 'n' whatever other fancy ways of sayin' walk yer butt faster I forgot."

Volkner glared daggers at her. She shut up.

Eventually, the four of them reached a three-way road. To te north, they spotted two things: One, a building with a sign above it, stating "Mooman's Travelin' Trainer's Respite" and below it "Resterant". Gardenia laughed at the blatant misspelling of restaurant. Second, a field of tall, healthy looking grass.

To the east, a set of steps carved out of dirt. They could see a bit of rainfall in the distance there.

To the west, a path in which they would have to climb a small ledge to get past. With Volkner with them, that was virtually impossible.

So the four of them headed inside "Mooman's Travelin' Trainer's Respite 'Resterant'", and found it rather empty. At the most, about five people were inside other than themselves, and three of them were waitresses, one behind the counter.

They moved over to a table and sat down, waiting for one of the waitresses to come over. They sat in silence, even as she dashed over to them and laid out five menus - one for each of them, and one labeled "Pokemon Food" in the center of the table. Jasmine was the first one to reach for it, while the others flipped open their people-food menus.

After about ten minutes, they got their food - Pokemon and people alike.

Jasmine released three Pokemon: Abigail the Abra, Benjamin the Butterfree - a large blue-skinned Pokemon with big red eyes and striped white wings - and her own Magnemite, Margaret.

Gardenia released three as well: Her Tangela, her Turtwig, and her Roselia.

Mana released a single Pokemon: a Kirlia, which twirled around as it moved toward its bowl of food.

Volkner, of course, released Chuseph, Elekid and Jolteon, and all of them began to eat.

Volkner regarded his Pokemon with a scowl. Such adorable little devils; cute when they needed to be, but devils when they weren't. It wasn't until he felt the soft touch of a hand on his shoulder that he realized just how open he had made his dislike of the small, cute scene of furry creatures having their little meal.

"Cute, aren't they...?" a voice said, and he looked up to identify it as Jasmine's. She wore a simple smile that seemed to lighten up the whole room, and for a moment, Volkner couldn't think of a come back - he was absorbed in her visage. But he broke out of the spell and muttered something beneath his breath.

"... Foul little bastards," he muttered.

Jasmine looked at him like he was growing lobsters from his ears. "Excuse me?"

Just then, a voice interrupted the little scene.

"Well hiya there - just look who it is!" Gardenia exclaimed.

_And God be damned,_ Volkner thought. _If it ain't Cyrus - and he's got a friend.  
_  
As he looked up to examine the two who had approached the table, Cyrus and this red-headed girl accompanying him, Volkner sighed and stood up.

"Closer than you let on, huh, Cyrus?" he said.

"Just a coincidence, Volkner - a pleasant one, though, wouldn't you agree?" Cyrus responded.

For now, Volkner would be polite as to not risk getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter by Gardenia. "... Yeah. I suppose so."

Gardenia spoke up next. "C'mon Cyrus, find yerself and yer friend a chair! Sit down and talk fer a bit!"

Cyrus nodded and did so, him pulling up next to Volkner, carefully avoiding his Pokemon still eating close by. His friend pulled up next to Gardenia, smoothing out her gray skirt before doing so.

"So, how've ya been, Cyrus?" Gardenia asked. "See ya've been travelin' some." Her eyes moved to the light smears of dirt on his clothing.

"Yes - I moved almost immediately through Mt. Coronet after I separated from you two. Made my way up to Celestic Town where I met Marsha here, and then we went back down through here and decided to stop for a bite to eat... and, we come upon you... four. My, the group has widened considerably since I left, hasn't it?"

Gardenia nodded. "I s'pose an introductory session is in order! Let's all introduce ourselves. No unfamiliar faces should leave this restaurant this evenin', 'kay? I'll start us off - my name's Gardenia! From Eterna City."

The friend of Cyrus spoke up next. "Marsha. But please," she said as she glared at Cyrus. "Call me Mars. From Celestic Town."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting..." Cyrus said, a bit of embarrassment evident in his voice.

Mana spoke up next. "Mana Aname, from Hearthome City."

Cyrus widened his eyes a bit, the only one who knew Volkner's real history. He continued the pattern, despite this. "C-...Cyrus, from Sunyshore City."

"Wow, that's a long way's off," Gardenia said.

"Yeah..." Cyrus responded.

Volkner was next. "Volkner, from Nunya."

"Don't be rude, Volkner!" Gardenia said.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Cyrus butted in. "It's alright if he doesn't want to say..."

Jasmine finished off the process. "I'm... uhm, Jasmine, from Olivine City."

"Johto?" Mars asked. "... Even longer way off. Wow. Got some real travelers among us, huh?"

Gardenia grinned and nodded. "Really."

Volkner stared at the variety of people around him, and wanted to get up and scream. He was tired, frustrated and now stuck in one hell of a position: Really, could his luck get any worse?


	14. Proposition

Cyrus leaned in on the table, propping his elbows up and turning his palms skyward to hold his head. An oddly childish sort of action for the super-serious guy, Gardenia found it a bit disturbing; a sixth sense informing her of what was to come, perhaps, she thought.

He grinned. It was giddy, simple and happy, as he looked at her. It made her shrink back a bit.

The tension was now so thick it was almost tangible. Volkner's gaze firmly focused upon Cyrus, Jasmine's somewhat nervous, Mana's usual calm and soothing demeanor now looking to be as tough as a brick wall. Only Mars seemed normal to Gardenia - and that was only because she didn't know the girl well.

Cyrus spoke up.

"Gardenia, has Volkner informed you of my phone call? I made it last night to him - and told him to tell you about it," he started. "But I get the feeling he hasn't."

Gardenia cocked an eyebrow. "No, he hadn't. Then again, that's Volkner for ya."

Cyrus nodded. He moved his hands back down toward his lap. "Of course. I figured he wouldn't - well then, let me inform you. I have a proposition."

Gardenia nodded in return. "Go on."

"As I left your group for my own purposes, I did so because I came upon an inscription in Mt. Coronet's walls," he said. "An inscription made by what appears to be ancient Sinnohan people... I had a bit of a time deciphering it, but I managed to get a broken message: 'He...conquers...trio...conquer...world'. Beneath it were drawings; three small pictures of tailed creatures, and two larger ones. The three tailed creatures were connected by a line, forming an upside-down triangle. The tip of the upside-down triangle drew a line that split in two down to the two larger creatures. I drew the conclusion that they were Pokemon. Are you following me?"

Gardenia nodded again. She didn't understand where he was going with the story though - and she hadn't painted a picture of Cyrus in her mind as the archaeology-inspired type. But she supposed she hadn't known him that well either.

"So, I went to a local town - actually accessible through a bike, if you're enough of a daredevil, in the path we were heading, hence how I got there - and looked it up in their library with the assistance of a librarian. She herself was married to an archaeologist... talk about luck, huh? Anyways, she recognized these immediately as a legend of Mt. Coronet - that atop it, there is a ancient building called the Spear Pillar, where, if one gathers the three legendary Pokemon Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, they would be able to summon the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia... lords of Time and Space. It made sense then. I was able to decipher the whole thing through hearing this legend... 'He who conquers the trio, conquers the world'. It made sense... the trio of Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie could summon Dialga and Palkia, and through conquering Space and Time, one could easily control the entire Earth."

Gardenia's gaze grew weary. She didn't want to think what she was thinking, but what Cyrus was leading up to sounded an awful lot like what she was thinking he was going to suggest.

"But, of course, there goes the concept of conquering the Earth if people rebel it. But with further research, I managed to deduce a solution to this too!" Cyrus's glee was apparently hard to contain then... it was almost leaking through his pores as a tangible substance. Gardenia could almost smell it.

"... and this is?" Jasmine piped up. Gardenia cast a glance at her, surprised by her speaking up. Her tone sounded a bit shaky.

"The trio are the source of human function in the legends! It makes even more sense, then! Uxie is the source of humanity's wisdom, Mesprit is the source of humanity's emotion, and Azelf is the source of humanity's willpower. With the three of them under one's control, all three things could be under that same person's grip!"

"... Scary, isn't it?" Mars said. "But wait 'till you hear Cyrus's idea!"

Gardenia glanced at Volkner, who seemed to be reddening. Then she looked at Mana, who grew tougher in her demeanor, a stone coldness evident in her eyes.

"Yes," Cyrus said. "It's frightening if it falls into the wrong hands... but I have ideas. What if someone where to use these powers for the purpose of good...? Say... to destroy this world as we know it? And rebuild it? Rebuild it so that it would be without the emotions that plague us?"

He sounded almost ecstatic at the thought. Gardenia could feel a rage bubbling up inside her.

"Eliminate anger! Eliminate lust! Eliminate all earthly wants - create a world without the strife that causes wars! Causes death, causes pain! It sounds wonderful, does it not? Gardenia, I told Volkner last night that my plans... are to perform this. Create this ideal world. Create a Galactic Sanctuary, where no man suffers. But I can not do such a tremendous undertaking on my own. I will require help, and Marsha-"

"Mars," Mars interrupted.

"Sorry, Mars, is the first volunteer to help with this. But we will form a team, a gang like the Rockets of Kanto - but with much nobler cause. We will break laws. But the benefits will outweigh the negatives such as that... we will call ourselves Team Galactic: the team for the Galactic Sanctuary. I would like you and Volkner to become higher-ups in the group: not necessarily co-leaders, but executives, within the top five people. What do you say, Gardenia? Volkner?"

Gardenia hated the idea. The world was fine as it was - sure, certain things made it a bit difficult to live in, but those things were things she was willing to live in. She was happy with her life, and she was happy with the world.

And she was about to voice this opinion, until she heard the sound of a chair scraping against wooden floor, and the fabric of a soft dress brush up against her arm. Jasmine had stood, her gaze uncharacteristically authoritative and almost frightening. She spoke up.

"... Cyrus, I don't know you much at all," she said. "But I've already come to disagree with you. Your ideas are heartful and kind, but you -must- realize that they can not work. To rid the world of anger, pain, lust and the like, you'd have to overwrite all emotions. We would live in an emotionless world and I can't help do anything but hate that! I'd rather see the world as it is, than go through such tragedy."

Cyrus stood up to match her.

"... I didn't include that for a reason. I admit. I know this to be true - but I would rather see no emotion at all than painful ones. It is the only way to fix our horrible, smitten world!" he exclaimed.

"You must have one hell of an issue with people, Cyrus," Gardenia stated, standing up as well. "'cause I can't see why anyone would go through such insane measures. Bad things leave scars sometimes, but just 'cause they do, doesn't mean you don't have the option 'ta just forget 'em! You -will- get over it."

Volkner stood up next. He apparently decided to take the more direct route of telling Cyrus that he was thinking too high, a bit too high up on his mental pedestal.

Because his route was cocking back his elbow and then thrusting a fist straight into the blue-haired boy's face.

Cyrus was sent sprawling back onto the wooden floor with a thud, his head hitting the ground. He lay there for a moment, groaning, a steady trickle of scarlet coming from his nose. The skin on his nose was a bright red, obviously prone to swelling very soon. He stood up a second later, and glared daggers at Volkner.

Volkner grinned from ear to ear. Gardenia stood there, watching the incident with awe.

"You're insane, Cyrus," Volkner said.

"... In-...insanity is a matter of perspective to me, Volkner," Cyrus responded. "You may disagree with me now, but I will prove that what I say is what is the best!"

"Ego problems, much?" Volkner retorted. "'What I say goes'. Fuck that. This world fucking sucks, but, hell... for some insane reason, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Anything other than sucky is kinda boring."

Cyrus rushed forward, arms outstretched. He slammed into Volkner, sending the two of them toppling to the floor. The waitresses in the area had all rushed away, presumably a bit frightened by the fight - and it struck Gardenia that they might be calling local authorities. She watched for a few more moments as Cyrus and Volkner wrestled each other on the ground, before walking over to them and delivering a firm kick toward Cyrus's stomach the moment she saw it exposed.

"Volkner," she said. "Get up."

Volkner listened, surprisingly. Cyrus was supporting himself by his knees and a single palm, his other hands grasping his stomach.

"It's time for us to get out of here," Gardenia said. "Volkner, leave a fifty on the table for the bill. Overpayin', but I say who the hell cares right now. Mars, I'd suggest you help Cyrus up and leave too."

Volkner reached into his pockets and pulled out a fifty dollar bill, set it on the table and then recalled his three Pokemon. Gardenia, Jasmine and Mana followed suit in returning their Pokemon, and the four of them headed toward the door. 

* * *

_four days later_

* * *

Volkner stared at what remained of his fortune in the pockets of his wallet, a desperate sadness in his eyes. A grand total of two hundred Pokedollars out of the three thousand that he had gone into the department store with.

He leaned up against the wall of the department store, zipped his wallet shut and slipped it back into his bag. He sighed, and watched the people walk by on the streets of Veilstone City, at a slightly lower elevation than them, for the department store rested on a hill. He supposed the spending spree was for good reason - a lot of it was toward supplies, an awful lot of dried Pokechow and canned people food, as well as a few advanced pieces of technology for the four of them, including new phones and small rectangular-shaped devices called Pokedexes.

"Hey, hey," Mana said as she approached him. She had been standing from a bit of a distance, but now leaned up against the wall with him, a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about the cash. I have an awful lot stored up in the bank. And, you know, with modern technology, we can withdraw it anywhere."

"Yeah, I suppose," Volkner muttered. "... But still, twenty-eight hundred in one sitting? Fucking amazing how well you women can spend."

This earned him a light slap against the back of the head. Oddly enough, it cheered him up a bit, and he grinned.

The two of them were waiting while Jasmine and Gardenia checked out a place for possible free lodging for the four of them. And just at that moment, Gardenia could be seen walking up to them and slowly nodding her head in confirmation. 

_

* * *

_

"I... I can't thank you enough, Miss Adamson," Jasmine said. "Your hospitality is amazing."

"Mattie, Jasmine!" the woman corrected her. "Remember? Please, I don't like the formalities. You're more than welcome here any time you'd like, as are your friends."

A little girl at Mattie's side nodded slowly, her pink hair bouncing as her head moved. "Any time, any time!" she exclaimed happily.

Jasmine grinned and knelt down, extending her arms. "Aw, I'll remember it, May," she said. The little girl rushed forward and embraced Jasmine, and Jasmine returned it gently.

The girl then broke the embrace, and waggled her finger in an adorable disapproval. "I decided that I wanna be called by my full name from now on. May is my little name! 'n' I'm getting bigger!"

Volkner, in the sidelines, massaged his temples. Why couldn't they just stay at a freaking Pokemon Center? It was a big city, Volkner realized, abuzz with trainer activity, which meant that the Pokemon Center required a small fee, but it was much more worth it to him. He never would understand these girls.

"Oh, I see," Jasmine responded. "Alright then - let me rephrase that... I'll remember that, Maylene."

__

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, only two of the group of four were left in the house. They would be staying another night, but two of the four of them had business in the city that needed to be taken care of.

Namely, Volkner and Mana were headed toward the Veilstone City Gym. They currently walked the streets of the city, speaking in low tones of voice, just barely audible to each other.

"I have a question, Volkner," Mana said. "Do you understand now?"

"Partially," Volkner responded. "I understand... you dropped me in here to take care of the blue annoyance, right?"

Mana nodded.

"One thing I don't understand, is why. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me, are you?" he said.

Mana shook her head.

"Thought not. Another thing I don't understand is how you knew he was going to go and do what he's doing. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me either, are you?"

"In due time," Mana said. "In due time."

The two of them reached the gym a few seconds later. It had an odd appearance compared to the usual image of a Pokemon Gym: it was made of wood, first thing off. It had a sign above it, also wood, hanging from two rusted metal poles, reading "GYM" in peeling red paint. It also had no door, and even though it was perfect daylight outside, the two of them couldn't see an ounce of anything but sheer darkness inside.

Volkner folded his arms over his chest and moved toward the door. Mana followed suit.


	15. The Battle to end them All!

**chapter 13: the battle to end them all?  
**

The inside of the gym lit up the moment they passed through, but only barely. It seemed the place was lit by motion-sensing electric candles, their plastic glowing slightly in the dim light of the light bulbs inside their "flame". As they stood there, getting their bearings, the sound of footfall against creaky wooden floors echoed in their ears.

From the darkness, a figure stepped forward.

He stood at what Volkner estimated to be a little under six feet tall, his wide figure draped by a black robe, a hood covering his face. He slipped it off with a single, coarse-looking hand to reveal a short buzzcut head of red hair. His eyes were jet black, his gaze firm and authoritative.

"Hello," he said. "Are you visitors or challengers?" His voice was baritone, intimidating.

"Challengers," Volkner said.

"Ah," the man replied. "Can I get your names then? In return, mine will be given as well."

"I'm Volkner Denzi," Volkner said. "And my friend here is Mana Aname."

The man nodded slowly. "I am Cimmeri. A pleasure Mister Denzi, Miss Aname. I am this gym's leader."

Volkner nodded. "Alright then, Cimmeri," he said. "Let's get down to business. What type do you specialize in?"

"He specializes in dark types," Mana said.

"The young lady has done her homework," Cimmeri said, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "Yes, I am a dark-type specialist."

"Heh. Okay then, this shouldn't be too hard..." Volkner mused.

Cimmeri allowed himself a full smile. "As if. Now, young Miss Aname, let's see if you deserve an A or a C on that homework of yours."

Mana spoke up. "Before one can challenge Leader Cimmeri, they must pass through a test. It's a simple but demanding one - find the light switch. There is one configured for each set of two electric candles as only a quarter of them are lit by motion sensory devices; once all lights in the gym are on, the challenger can battle the Leader."

"A-plus," Cimmeri said. "Impressive."

Mana nodded quickly. "I don't go against such foes as gym leaders without studying them first."

Volkner couldn't help but think that this was a bold-faced lie.

"Now of course, I'm a dark-type specialist. Therefore, only a quarter of them is one set. Which means..."

It hit Volkner. "The ones in the entrance are the only motion-lit ones, and there are only a total of eight electric candles in the gym. You're a dark-type specialist... so of course, this place has got to be dark..."

Cimmeri clapped for a few seconds. "Mister Denzi has got it! Now, I'll be heading back to the main arena - and you'd best not keep me waiting long. You guys look like people who could easily take down my gym trainers..."

He scoffed afterward as if what he said was funny. Then he turned around and walked off.

Volkner sighed, and stepped forward, past where the light from the candles shone through. He walked into the complete and total darkness, a hand on one of the walls to keep a steady path. This place was not only dark, but it was apparently in a maze... it would require more than groping around in the dark to find these light switches.

Only the sounds of his and Mana's footfall could be heard, as the two of them moved through the halls. That was, at least, for the first few minutes. As they continued to stumble around blindly, a voice could be heard, speaking in low whispers. It grew steadily in volume, until it was normal audibility. But suddenly, the source of sound changed subjects.

"Have your eyes adjusted to the dark yet...?" a voice asked. "I'd sure hope so... otherwise, well, you wouldn't be any fun to battle, would you?"

Mana spoke next. "My eyes can see decently. A gym trainer, I assume?"

"... You may call me Tamara. Yes, I am a gym trainer. Shall we get your defeat over with...?"

The sound of a Pokeball being unhooked from a belt met Volkner's ears, and a momentary flash of light from the release of a Pokemon illuminated the area for a split second: long enough so that Volkner saw that their opponent was indeed a woman, with long black hair obviously badly kept, a cap concealing her eyes.

"Cats have excellent vision in darkness," Tamara said. "Did you know?"

"Gla! Glameowww..." the cat Pokemon exclaimed alongside her.

Mana tossed forth her own Pokeball then. Volkner only assumed it was her Kirlia, and sighed.

This was going to be a while. Cimmeri had designed this gym with total genius.

Mana spoke. "Volkner, go off to find the next light switch. We'll get things done quicker this way. I'll call you when I beat this girl and get the light switched on, as well you should when you find the next one. Once one of us finds the third, we'll meet up at the central arena. Understood?"

Volkner understood the plan, but did understand why Mana seemed to be putting so much effort into this. Perhaps to keep up the facade of traveling for the purpose of the gym circuit.

"Alright," Volkner said. He stuck his hands into his pockets and began to walk for the north, removing his hand as soon as he felt a wall coming close. He wished his eyes would adjust to the darkness already: he could just barely see his own hand in front of his face.

He continued walking for a good few minutes, shouting an occasional, "Speak up if you're there!" but receiving no response. Finally, his phone rang, and as he pulled it out and pressed it against his ear, an idea hit him. He nearly smacked himself on the forehead for it, but supposed that would sound ridiculous to Mana.

"Figured out you could use the phone's light, huh?" Mana asked immediately.  
_  
GOD DAMN PSYCHIC._

"Now, watch your language, young man," Mana said in a teasing tone.

"Shut up. You beat the girl?" Volkner asked.

"Yep. And found out something interesting - each gym trainer gives clues to the location of the next light. They're simple riddles. Hers is, 'the escapee's path of choice. Pick its opposite.'"

"The logical assumption is that someone would escape through the front door. So... the opposite is the back door. The back of the gym."

"Correct," Mana said. "I'm gonna stay here and wait. Call me back when you find the next clue."

Mana hung up.

Volkner placed his phone out in front of him and moved through its light, until he finally found what he believed to be the back of the gym. He was correct, as a moment later, he came across a person with a hood on their head, who looked up at him as the light hit him. A grin crossed the person's lips.

"Hello," the person said. Their voice was obviously male. "I see you've beat Tamara."

His tone was annoyingly smug.

"Yep," Volkner said. "And for some reason, I doubt you'll be much tougher."

The person nodded slowly. "I see. We'll just have to prove you wrong then. My name is Jason."

Volkner unhooked a Pokeball from his belt. "Well then, let's get this party started, shall we Jason?"

_

* * *

bang bang  
bang bang bang  
BANG BANG_

"Jeez!" Maylene cried. "Hold on a second! Someone's coming!"

Maylene sighed in annoyance, walking over toward the door and turning the knob. She pulled the door back and looked at the person standing in front of her with a dagger-like gaze. "Will you have some patience, guy?"

The man looked down at her, and scoffed. "Forgive me. Volkner Denzi is staying here currently, isn't he? I'm... a friend of his."

He was an odd looking man, dressed a t-shirt and jeans, with a u-shaped blue hairstyle.

"Yeah," Maylene said. "But he's at the gym with that girly. Maybe you should go there instead."

The man nodded. "I will."

He turned around and walked off. 

* * *

Volkner grinned, returning his Pokemon and hooking the Pokeball back up to his belt.

"Wrong, hm?" Volkner gloated. "Too friggin' easy."

Jason scowled, turning to the side and flipping on the light switch. A dim light suddenly rushed through the area, allowing more visibility on all sides.

"The clue," Jason said. "Is 'opposite from the original'. Good luck solving it."

Volkner scoffed and pulled out his phone, pressing a few buttons then placing it against his ear.

"Nice job," Mana said instantly. "As for the next clue, well..."

"Opposite the original."

"Right. I'll take care of it. Wait for me in the central arena."

Volkner flipped the phone shut and headed for the central arena. Once he got there, he saw a steel door with four bulbs around it. Three of them were lit.

He sighed, leaned up against the wall, and awaited Mana's victory. 

* * *

Some time passed before it happened. Volkner supposed it was simply a tough battle: but eventually, the light outside the door did pop on, and in-turn, the steel door slid open with the slight grinding sound of metal on metal.

Volkner walked inside. He had to move down a massive flight of steps, but eventually reached a room down in the depths of the ground.

In the center of the room was an arena, illuminated only by a small square of red lights. Volkner was glad for their dim guidance: he had went down the flight of steps in utter darkness. He had worried the entire way about tripping and hurting himself.

He walked up the smaller flight of steps up to the arena, and stared for a few moments at the figure waiting for him there.

"You and Miss Aname were the only duo smart enough to actually work together," Cimmeri said. "I've got to commend you two for that. But beating me won't be so easy!"

Cimmeri unhooked a Pokeball from his belt, and pressed the release switch with his thumb. The ball expanded and popped open, sending forth a flash of white light to further illuminate the area, albeit only momentarily.

In the darkness, Volkner had mild trouble identifying the opposing Pokemon. It was black, he could tell, with something red on its head.

Volkner removed a Pokeball from his pocket, and tossed his arm forward, thumb against the release switch. From the burst of light the Pokeball sent out, Elekid materialized, his body providing another source of dim lighting.

"An electric type- heh. Impressive. Electric Types use bio-luminescence don't they?"

Volkner wanted to punch himself in the face. He hadn't even thought of that. But he grinned in response, nodding in order to provide a facade of knowing just what the hell he was doing. "Of course."

"You know the rules of the gym battles, I assume? The first one to have no Pokemon able to battle wins. The challenger is allowed to rotate Pokemon. I am not."

"Right."

"Then let's go! Sneasel, use Icy Wind!"

Sneasel opened up his mouth and shot forth a small gust of breathe, the air condensing enough to be visible in the frigid temperature of the attack.

Elekid lifted his arms in front of his face, forming an X-shaped guard. The icy wind hit him dead-on, but he seemed to shrug off its effects.

"Good guard, Elekid!" Volkner praised, though a second later he almost -did- punch himself in the face for it. "Now, let's retaliate with a Swift attack!"

Elekid let his jaw fall, putting a single hand in front of his mouth. He spat out a small collection of star-shaped energy discs, each which landed in his hand. Elekid then ran forward toward Sneasel and began to run circles around him, every few seconds tossing forth one of the discs. Each one connected perfectly, despite Sneasel's attempts to guard himself.

Sneasel came out of the barrage with small cuts all over his body, each one oozing a strange blueish-red colored blood.

Cimmeri grinned. "Nice. But not nice enough! Sneasel, give it a Faint Attack!"

Sneasel calmly began to walk forward, until he came to a baffled Elekid. He then extended a hand in request of what appeared to be a handshake.

"... What the hell is it doing?" Volkner thought.

Elekid blinked once or twice, before nodding slowly and extending his own hand.

Which proved to be a mistake.

Elekid's hand was grabbed with a fierce amount of strength and drawn in close to Sneasel, before the Ice-type hit the opposing Pokemon with a fierce punch by his free hand.

Elekid was not released, however. He was held firm, struggling to break free of Sneasel's icy cold grip, but it was fruitless.

"Now, while it's up close, use a Screech!" Cimmeri ordered.

Sneasel pulled Elekid in even closer, then let loose an eardrum-shattering scream.

Volkner clasped his hands over his ears, and in that moment, actually felt a swell of sympathy for Elekid, who obviously could not have protected himself in the slightest from the banshee-like howl.

"... Elekid, use Thunderpunch!"

Elekid took a few seconds to respond to Volkner's command, leaving Sneasel enough time to try and get away.

But Sneasel, evidently, could not. Elekid's grasp was now firm and fierce, and Sneasel writhed, trying to break free, but it was obviously not going to happen. Elekid used his free hand to deliver a strong blow toward Sneasel's stomach, moving so fast through the air that sparks of electricity surrounded it. The electrical energy grew as it moved forward, and the fist was very quickly covered by it as it drove into the opposing Pokemon's gut.

But this was not its finishing blow. Sneasel fell limply into Elekid's arms, barely able to support himself. Elekid, however, was not finished. He tossed Sneasel upward, and before the Sharp Claw Pokemon could possibly even begin to fall, Elekid was doing a handstand, constantly shifting his position in a blur of expert speed. His legs were twirling.

And, as Sneasel fell toward Elekid's position, a Rolling Kick was what knocked it into unconsciousness.

"Impressive, Mister Denzi," Cimmeri said, a hint of awe evident in his voice.

Cimmeri returned his Pokemon, and unhooked another Pokeball from his belt. As he prepared to release it, though, something happened that left his and Volkner's mouths both gaping open.

"He's... evolving...?" Volkner gasped.

Elekid was glowing a bright white, illuminating the room perfectly. Volkner could see his shape quickly growing larger, but at the same time more slender.

And as the light faded, the new form of Elekid was visible.

The Pokemon was roughly fifty percent larger than his old form, with a larger body (though not from fat - most of it was obviously muscle), with more defined legs, toes ending in small claws. His arms were more sleek, but still intimidatingly muscular. His ears had disappeared entirely. His body was covered in yellow fur, black stripes decorating it, including one in the shape of a thunderbolt on his torso.

From the pulsation of energy the new Pokemon emitted, his Pokedex turned on, droning in the darkness in its mechanical voice.

"Electabuzz, the Electric Pokemon," it said. "Electricity runs across the surface of its body. In darkness, its entire body glows a whitish-blue. Getting close to it will make your hair stand on end. It windmills it arms to slightly boost its punches: foes have been known to escape in the meantime. Half of all blackouts occur when this Pokemon appears at power plants and eats electricity."

Almost as if on cue, Electabuzz began to glow a whitish blue.

Volkner grinned from ear to ear.

"Alright, then," Cimmeri said. "I suppose we'll have to call for the big guns with this one!"

Cimmeri tossed his arm forward, and a bright flash of light was sent forth from the Pokeball in hand, materializing into a Pokemon.

It was about the same height as Electabuzz, but quadrupedal. It was covered in white fur, but the skin bare beneath it was jet black. On its head was a sickle-like horn. Its bright red eyes were gleaming with excitement.

Having turned on, Volkner's Pokedex automatically began to pull information on the next Pokemon too.

"Absol, the dis-"

Volkner shut it off. "Stupid thing..."

"Alright," Cimmeri commanded. "Absol, start this off with a Double Team!"

Absol instantly darted out of his original spot, running in circles around Electabuzz. Every other second, an after image was left behind, staying there in an odd form of shimmering solidity.

"Electabuzz, find the real one and shoot a Thundershock at it!"

This was easier said then done. Electabuzz turned around in circles a multitude of times, trying to differentiate the after image from the Pokemon, but to no avail. Electabuzz eventually settled for shooting a three-way Thundershock: one from each hand, and one from the mouth.

Three after images where eliminated.

"Keep up the Double Team!" Cimmeri shouted.

Volkner groaned. This was going to be a while.

And it was. Electabuzz kept eliminating after images, only for Absol to form more. But finally, the strategy was changed.

"Swords Dance, Absol!"

Absol's after images did not follow this command. Volkner realized it quick. And this was his chance.

Absol was on his rear legs, performing a strange dance, his paws waving back and forth while a small blue glow came from his stomach.

He shouted so loud that Cimmeri yelped in shock.

"IT'S GOT A FLAW! FIND THE REAL ONE, QUICK, ELECTABUZZ! HIT IT WITH A LOW KICK!"

Cimmeri's eyes widened as Electabuzz ran toward the exact thing he had been unable to hit for the past ten minutes of the fight: the real Absol.

Absol, by now, had gone back down to his hind legs, but Electabuzz was sliding on its arm toward him. Absol was sent off of the ground from the force of the kick, and as he fell, writhing in pain, Cimmeri called out the next order.

"And now for the Coup de Grace!" Cimmeri said. Volkner could tell the lack of confidence behind that statement. "Absol, Slash!"

Absol hit the ground with a thud, landing on all fours. He was panting visibly: watching it run, Volkner believed that perhaps the attack had broken or at least injured one of the Pokemon's legs. He ran toward Electabuzz with his head down, as did all of the after images. They appeared to have a better sync with Absol on more physical moves, Volkner observed.

"Alright," Volkner commanded. "Leap up, Electabuzz, as high as you can! Once in the air, produce as many Swift-Stars as you can and fire them! Don't worry about throwing!"

Electabuzz suddenly leaped into the air, watching as Absol skidded to a stop as he realized he wasn't going to hit his opponent. Electabuzz then opened up his mouth, and without worrying about throwing the stars, he shot a barrage of star-shaped rays toward the many after images covering the battlefield.

The number was decrease substantially. And, interestingly enough, the attack also appeared to hit the real Absol, as one of the images began to bleed.

Volkner grinned. And there was the way to identify.

"Focus on the bleeding one, Electabuzz! It's the real one! Finish it, quick, with a Thunder Punch!"

"Fine! This is the last stand! Absol, slash it before it can hit you!"

Electabuzz hit the ground with a soft thud, finding the one that leaked a steady red liquid. Blood. He ran toward it, arms pinwheeling as he ran, generating a steady current of electricity toward his fists.

Absol dashed forward, ignoring the pain in his leg. His head was down, prepared to gut the opponent like a Stantler. His sickle-horn glowed a faint white.

The two hit each other in a collision of energy.

Electabuzz had his fists together, both charged with electrical power. A hammerfisted Thunder Punch. It had hit Absol good and hard, Absol now laying on the floor, totally immobile. The acrid smell of burned hair entered Volkner's nostrils: the attack had singed the Pokemon's fur.

But Absol had done some damage too. Electabuzz had a deep gash on his stomach. It was not serious, not even CLOSE to fatal, but it would hurt until Volkner got him to a Pokemon Center: not that Volkner really cared.

Electabuzz stumbled backward, and fell onto the ground, immobile.

"...And that was my only other Pokemon," Cimmeri said with a sigh. "But you have two left, don't you?"

"Yep."

Volkner pressed his thumb against the release switch of Electabuzz's Pokeball. The Pokemon returned in a flash of red light. Cimmeri did the same for his Absol.

"Then you, my friend, have earned the Absence Badge. You're a commendable battler. You also will receive another gift from me. The TM for Double Team."

Cimmeri reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black badge with a golden outline, circular in shape. In his other hand, he held a small white disc. He handed them both to Volkner, who thrust them into the pockets of his jeans.

"And what about you, Miss Aname?" Cimmeri asked.

Volkner wheeled around, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that Mana had arrived. He sighed, and moved down the steps of the arena.

"Ah, from seeing that..." Mana said. "I actually think I'll forfeit. Perhaps I'll battle you later: I'm not skilled enough to take you now, unlike Volkner here..."

She placed a hand on Volkner's shoulder, and Volkner instantly broke through the grasp.

"Right. It's a shame," Cimmeri said. "But I suppose to each his or her own. I'll see you two."

Volkner muttered a simple, "Sure." 

* * *

Outside of the Gym, Volkner and Mana began to walk toward their place of residence.

"Nice job on the badge," Mana commented.

"... Yeah, yeah," Volkner muttered. He had to say though, that it did indeed feel amazing to have that small circular thing in his hand. It was a feeling that made him perceive power. He had won his first gym battle.

But his happiness wouldn't last for long. It was replaced with a searing pain in his shoulder. He felt the warm flow of blood, and then he heard the bang. He realized with horror... he had been shot.

Mana looked toward him with her eyes wide.

"Volkner, what- there's-"

Mana turned toward the nearby forest, and saw the blue-haired man rush toward Volkner. She had frozen in place, absolutely mortified. This wasn't supposed to happen.

The man was dressed in blue jeans and a gray shirt, covered by a black vest. His hair was blue, in an odd u-shape.

"... Jupiter," Volkner muttered.

Mana looked down at Volkner, and the blood flowing from the wound in his right shoulder. The man stood in front of him, gleaming silver metal in his hand aimed toward Volkner's left shoulder: a gun.

Mana tried to move, but was still paralyzed with fear. She had not predicted this? How could she not have? She should have been able to feel the malice in the air-

She heard the bang. A second shot, this one lodging a bullet in Volkner's left side.

The sound of Volkner's scream broke her. The gentle flow of tears hit her cheeks.

"Now then," the man called Jupiter said. "Young lady, you're going to take the boy's Pokeballs. You're going to break them. And then you are to turn around. Understood? It means Captain Giggles will die if you don't."

Mana allowed herself a slow nod. She kneeled at Volkner's side, and gently began to remove the Pokeballs from Volkner's pockets. The familiar feeling of touching his flesh sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't believe she was about to let this happen.

She took the first Pokeball in her hand, and thrust it toward the ground. It cracked, breaking the release.

She took the second Pokeball and repeated the process. Her muscles grew weak with fear, tension and self-hatred.

She took the third Pokeball in her hand, and waited a few seconds.

"You're doing well so far, girl. Don't do something stupid."

She took the third Pokeball and pressed the release switch. A flash of light illuminated the area, and Mana heard the sound of Jupiter speaking, but to her, it was all a blur of words, indecipherable. Her body moved on its own.

She heard the bang, and it all went black.


	16. Friends in High Places

**SINNOH STORIES  
THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

Chapter 14: Friends in High Places

**Author's Notes: With the exclusion of the following lines of italics, everything in italics is done in a Pokemon's PoV. So you'll be seeing speech in English. It's not really English.**

_This wasn't supposed to happen!  
He meant everything! He was going to be the one!  
He was going to avenge it! Those horrible, horrible crimes!  
I've got to stop it! I still need him!  
STOP IT, LISA!  
WAKE UP.  
Wake up..._

...wake up...

Lisa woke up into a dull world. She felt like an empty husk, no signs of life tangible to her: not even the rise and fall of her own chest. She tried to move her limbs, but the act was a fruitless labor.

She heard voices, though. Small voices, barely above a whisper individually, barely above a hum in their collective sound. She tried to open her mouth to respond to them, ask them to speak up and let her know just what was going on, but this too proved useless. So she lay there, allowing herself to soak in what was going on, even though she couldn't understand it a bit.

She blinked. The world's dull, swimming gray color began to clear some, the blur slowly disintegrating into a clearer picture. She saw light. The light of the sun? No, it couldn't have been that. It was too dim. The light was artificial, obviously so.

She blinked again, and the quality of the world continued to grow. It was still grainy, her existence like a picture behind a veil of a television's static. She could now hear the voices better.

"...ner...shot?...Yes...zi..."

"I...stand...though..."

"...holes...pave..."

"...but...resil..."

"... Resilience doesn't mean immunity, ma'am," a gruff voice said.

Another voice that was slightly high-pitched and obviously female, filled with tension, responded after a short pause. "...I suppose you're right. Damn it! I just... it doesn't seem possible..."

Lisa could see the world in a blurred but much less grainy vision, like an old VHS tape, occasional lines of static running down the screen.

She was in a small room, lit by dim electrical lighting installed in the ceiling above. On either side of her were windows, but what was outside them was hidden by blinds. She assumed the same was true for behind her.

The entire room was painted a bright white.

She heard the sounds of voices still, but their conversations were mixed, people outside speaking to each other. The only conversation that made sense to her was the one going on in this very room.

In front of her stood the young girl in her signature long, white dress, brown hair down to her shoulders. Her arms were in front of her, thumbs gently pressing against each other. In a seat next to Lisa's bed, the girl with caramel brown hair, a black cape hiding her green shirt, sat.

Jasmine and Gardenia respectively.

The only other person in the room was a man in a blue uniform, rather heavyset. His belt contained an array of items: a can of something, a nightstick, a gun, et cetera. A Policeman.

Jasmine was speaking to the Policeman, her voice filled with tension and worry. Gardenia sat silent, until a couple seconds later.

"Well hell, if lil' miss Hero ain't awake."

Gardenia smiled nervously, inching closer to the bedside. She took Lisa's hand in her own.

"How are ya, Mana?" she asked.

"My name's Lis-" She stopped herself mid-sentence. "...Wait, uhm... nevermind... hi, Gardenia... I'm kinda...tired..."

She had forgotten the pseudonym in her grogginess. She breathed a sigh of slight relief, glad to have caught herself mid-screwup.

Gardenia nodded. "...With what happened, I don't blame ya. Ya do remember what happened, right?"

"...Refresh my memory."

"...Accordin' to witnesses, you protected Volkner. Shielded him. Said the shot was aimed toward his chest: you took it in yers. Lucky lil' gal, you are - the bullet missed all vitals, and just broke a few ribs. Ya should be okay within about... two months, accordin' to the doctors."

"...And what about Volkner?" Mana asked. "Is he alright?"

"Other than the shots in the shoulder?" she asked. "...Well, we don't know."

Gardenia's eyes explored the ground as she spoke.

"...We're still lookin'."

Mana tried to sit up, but found the pain too sharp. She slowly lowered herself down to the bed again.

"Let's not try 'n' sit up, okay, miss Hero?" Gardenia chided. "Unless you -wanna- hurt, and if if that's the case, be my guest."

Mana smiled simply. It was fake. She was upset beyond belief: things had gone out of the loop, the plan she had perceived for time to flow with.

"I'll be takin' my leave then," the officer blurted out, and walked out the door. This left Jasmine able to turn to face Mana, and she used the opportunity to offer a thin, anxious smile.

_"_I'm glad you're okay," she said.

"...Thanks," Mana said. "Are search efforts being d-done for Volkner?"

Gardenia nodded. "The Veilstone PD has a few officers out lookin'. But that's all they can spare."

Mana's eyes widened. "Only a few? Jeez... you guys ought to go out too."

"That can wait-" Jasmine tried to say.

"No," Mana interrupted. She took a pause, breathing in carefully. "I don't think it c-can... go and search for your friend."

_For the good of us all, _Mana chirped in with her thoughts.

"...Jasmine, stay here with here, okay? I'll head out and look," Gardenia said.

"No. You go too, Jasmine. I'll be fine. Really."

"...Yer sure?" Gardenia asked.

"I'm sure," Mana responded.

"...Fine," Gardenia murmured. "Alright! Let's head out and find ourselves a Volkner! Again."

_

* * *

  
_

_He scurried along on all four legs, moving as fast as his body would let him. He was scared, frightened for the life of his best friend, his ONLY friend, anxious for his own safety as well._

He was running blindly. He had no idea where he was heading, allowing his feet to move him where destiny required him to be.

He realized suddenly that it was raining. He stopped mid-dash, and searched the surrounding area for some form of shelter. He was a domesticated boy. He wasn't used to the wilderness. He hated the rain.

He saw a small cave and darted toward it, allowing its dark dank inside to shelter him from the harsh downpour outside.

Water streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was rainwater or if they were tears.

_

* * *

  
_

__Volkner, by now, had numbed himself to the pain. He had no other choice. If he paid attention to it, it would drive him insane: and give his captor that satisfaction. But he couldn't deny he was injured: two clean holes marred his skin, one in each shoulder. This left his arms useless. His captor had purposefully done this, as arms would help him significantly. The back of his head had slammed against pavement, busting it open slightly. He hoped to God no infection occurred. His legs had long since grown numb from the loss of blood to them, as he lay there on a damp floor.

His captor towered over him.

"Well then," he sad. "Now that we're out of the way, and that bitch died, how are you, Body Builder?" Saturn said with a smirk.

"... Go to Hell," Volkner spat.

"Feisty for someone who's in no position to be defiant. Heh."

"... I'd rather die than actually be submissive to you, fuckface."

Saturn reached toward his belt, pulling the gun he had used earlier out of its holster. He pointed it toward Volkner.

"Did you know? I'm an expert on human anatomy. I know where to fire so that it won't kill you... but it'll still hurt like hell."

Volkner did not respond.

Saturn's smirk faded. "You ruined something for me, kid. That Valley Windworks heist was supposed to earn me some money. Money I needed at the time."

"...And what do ya know?" Volkner responded. His voice was weak, croaking, but still filled with his usual defiant smugness. "I ended up getting a good five thousand bucks just from getting my ass kicked. Easy, isn't it? You should... try it some time. Heh."

"Fuck you, kid. You and your partner screwed me up. I never got the cash, because before we left - due to that damn idiot Gomel deciding to stay for the full day to try and milk it - you two got there and ended up calling attention to us."

Saturn brought back his leg, delivering a firm kick toward Volkner's groin.

"And GOD DAMN IT, KID! You're gonna pay!"

Volkner's world went blank. 

* * *

_"The cost of intruding on one's territory is big, you drenched rat," a voice came._

He slowly lifted his head up and looked around him. He had no idea how he hadn't heard them before: he was totally surrounded. A bunch of glowing yellow eyes were in the darkness, and from them, a trio stepped forth.

They were blue creatures. Blue with black fur on their backs, two of them smaller than the one in the center. Each had a tail waving eagerly behind them, tipped in a star-shaped yellow tuft of fur.

"Ike, Drech - kill it."

"Wait!" he shouted, lifting his arms up and waving frantically. "My name is Chuseph. I'm sorry! I didn't know this was your territory!'"

"Chuseph? Bahaha. That sounds... human. Are you...?'"

"Yes!" Chuseph stated, his stubby yellow arms lowering to his sides. "I'm a human's partner!"

"Ha. Human. Alright, I understand - why are you out here without your human, though?"

"He was... hurt. Another human hurt him! I'm looking for him now - I'm just taking shelter from the rain!"

"That's a surprise to you? Humans do little but hurt. That's the reason you're still alive right now - I pity you."

Chuseph glared fiercely at the leader of the group, who had by now all stepped out of the darkness.

"Heh. Angry? Or just not willing to accept the truth? I suppose it doesn't matter. My name is Croce. I am a Luxray, leader of the Thunderstrike Luxio clan."

"... That isn't the truth! My human is... a bit mean, but I can feel he's good inside. I'd rather die than let you imply otherwise!"

"Is that so?" the Luxio next to Croce said. "I can make that happen if you'd like. I am rather hungry."

"Share some of him with me!" the one to the other side of Croce said. "Don't be a hog, Ike."

"Shut up, Drech, Ike," Croce muttered.

"... Yes, boss."

"Alright. If you want to prove that fact, I have a proposition for you, rat," Croce said, a smugness to his voice.

"... Fine! Anything!"

"We are prideful people. Destroy our pride. If you can beat the three of us - Ike, Drech and Myself - then not only will we accept you as a mighty warrior and as proof that humans aren't all bad, but I'll also send one of our members to help you find your human. We have a powerful sense of smell. The human stench on you is obvious."

"And if I lose?" Chuseph asked.

"Chusph a'la King for dinner tonight."

"... Deal!" Chuseph exclaimed.

Croce spun around. "Come. We will go to the Colosseum!"

"You have a Colosseum?" Chuseph asked, awestruck.

"... Well, it's just a big empty patch of dirt with some rocks around it, but we're all sort of suckers for the grandeur."

After about five minutes of walking, they reached the Colosseum. As Croce stated, it was simply a big patch of dirt with some rocks around it. The Luxio all gathered around the rocks eagerly, looking into the arena.

Chuseph walked in and stood at the center. The two Luxio surrounded him on his left and right sides, while Croce stood in front of him.

"Mac, come and referee. You know the rules."

A Luxio stepped forward from the crowd. "Yes, sir! The rules are that whatever goes for the Luxio or Luxray in the arena! The challenger is restricted to nonlethal force, while the home team may do what they please."

"Good, Mac, good..."

"Hey!" Chuseph shouted. "That's not fair!"

"Deal with it."

"... Grrr ..."

"Go!" Mac screamed suddenly.

The first thing to happen was with Croce. Ike and Drech did not move - Croce began to lift off the ground, a steady pulsation of a yellowish energy coming from his paws.

"That's the boss and his Magnet Rise," Chuseph heard a voice say.

"Take care of him, Ike, Drech," Croce stated calmly.

Ike and Drech both nodded, lunging toward Chuseph. Both of them were glowing a bright yellow, covered in an electrical aura.

Volt Tackle? _Chuseph thought. _Not good! Dodge it!

_And so he did. Chuseph leaped as high as he could manage almost immediately, and the two Luxio screeched to a halt: but not in enough time to prevent themselves from headbutting each other. Chuseph landed a couple seconds later a few inches away from them, and almost laughed as they cursed him._

"Damn it, you... you rat! You'll pay for that! Sneaky!"

"Yeah! Sneaky little bastard!"

"Stop copying me, Drech."

"You stop copying me, Ike!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND KILL HIM!" Croce bellowed.

"Yes boss!"

Chuseph took both of his paws and placed them in front of him. Electrical energy began to charge in them both, and he smashed them together, forming an orb.

"An Electro Ball attack!" a voice in the crowd said. "Wow, I've never seen one of those!"

Chuseph took the orb in his hand, and made a wild dash toward Ike at his top speed. The two Luxio charged at him in return. Chuseph quickly reached Ike and extended his hand, smashing the orb of electrical energy into the Pokemon's side.  
  
_Ike cried out in pain, and was flung to the side. He skidded to a stop a couple feet away, and struggled to stand. He did, though._

Drech saw opportunity.

He rushed toward the apparently defenseless Pikachu and lunged just a few feet away, mouth open, ready to bite.

He was in for a world of pain, though.

Chuseph grinned. The Luxio had fell for it. He smashed his tail as hard as he could manage into Drech's face, also sending him skidding.

Drech didn't get up.

"Just me and you, huh?" Chuseph gloated.

Ike growled. "More than enough, you little rat!"

Chuseph lowered himself to all fours and let loose a charge of electricity: simply to show that he meant business.

Ike ran toward Chuseph, his mouth open to do a bite attack. Chuseph wasn't about to let that happen.

Chuseph ran to the side of Ike, and Ike turned to meet him. The two continued in a cycle like this: running around each other, dodging each other's tackles, until Ike finally managed to keep up, and lodged his teeth firmly into Chuseph's arm.

Chuseph yelped out in pain, but decided to take advantage of the close proximity.

Croce appeared to realize Chuseph's plan. "Ike, get away, qui-"

"... let's see how you like ten thousand volts," Chuseph whispered. He shut his eyes and let loose a massive discharge of electricity, the sound as loud as a thunderbolt. It hit Ike within such close proximity and within such force, that his bite went limp. He lay there unconscious, still attached to Chuseph's arm.

Chuseph shook him loose, and looked at the floating Luxray. His arm hurt, a steady throb of pain pulsating throughout him, but he nodded toward Croce.

"I'm ready when you are, bossman."


	17. Friends in High Places PTII

_"... I'm very, very surprised," Croce said. "Ike and Drech are our two strongest Luxio. A very pleasant surprise to see them beaten."_

_Croce's Magnet Rise seemed to be deteriorating in strength; he was slowly falling toward the Earth again, and Chuseph stepped back to avoid this landing occuring right on top of him._

_"Pleasant?" Chuseph asked. _

_"All the more pleasure comes from killing a strong opponent!" _

_Croce, not even a second after saying this, descended. He hit the ground with a soft thud, and rushed toward Chuseph, flying at the speed of a bullet train._

_It was inevitable for Chuseph to be hit. He couldn't possibly have predicted the Luxray's speed, as it was far beyond the speed one would expect for such a slow Pokemon. The force of Croce's hit knocked the wind out of him, sending him flying backward. He was lucky, though, as he managed to snag an odd green rock firmly anchored to the ground, and this stopped him from being sent any further._

_"You pitiful rat! Haha! I'll eat like a king tonight!"_

_Chuseph leaped off the rock and stood there for a few seconds, pondering his next move. He had an array of attacks at his disposal, but he couldn't think of any that would do much to damage the tough hide he had just felt._

_"Really, Croce? I'm sure you will. What'll you be having?" he asked._

_"You, you stupid thing!"_

_"For some odd reason, I really do doubt that."_

_"You'll see, rat!" Croce roared, before lunging forth again. This time, it was done with a little less speed, leaving Chuseph the time to run to the side and dodge. _

_Croce skidded to a halt and turned toward Chuseph, his tail wagging behind him fiercely. Suddenly, he was enveloped in a bright yellow aura. Pulsations of electricity crackled from it, striking nearby objects, charring them black._

_"That's the Boss's Charge!" that helpful voice in the crowd said in awe. "Wowsa, I'd never thought I'd seen him be so desperate!"_

_Chuseph recognized the attack name. It powered up certain electricity-based moves. Quick on his feet, Chuseph lunged toward that odd green rock and pulling it out of the ground with his good arm. He held it in front of him, waving it. He decided: he would use it as a weapon._

_"Wait, Boss, don't-"_

_But it was too late. Croce dashed forward with that electrical aura spinning wildly around him. He slammed headfirst into Chuseph's Rock-shield, and it snapped right in two. Chuseph was sent tumbling back again, this time flat onto his backside. The world around him was dazed. Blackening._

_But soon, his world went light._

_"What the hell? What idiot let a Pikachu in the arena with a Thunderstone nearby?" Croce roared._

_"... You, boss," the attack-naming voice called out._

_"SHUT UP!"_

_"Yes, boss! I mean- y-..."_

_Chuseph hit the ground with a soft thud, but found himself able to stand up very easy. "... You call that a hit?"_

_Croce scowled. "Just because you've evolved into a Raichu doesn't mean anything!"_

_"I'm... wait, what?" Chuseph exclaimed, taking his arm and lifting it up in front of his face. It was an odd shade of orange now, more stub-like but also full of muscle. He looked down to examine his body: his stomach was a circle of tan in the midst of the orange, and his gut was more defined, muscle poking out (but also mixed in with some fat; he supposed it was a biological protection thing), his feet now tipped in black._

_Chuseph clashed his fists together. "Let's get ready to rumble, Bossman! I FEEL GOOD!" _

_Croce let loose a feral roar and darted toward Chuseph. Chuseph danced aside, dodging the attack and catching Croce by the neck. He exerted a thin pressure, and watched as Croce crumbled to his feet._

_"... Ow!" Croce said. "That hurt! Damn it, you motherfriggin' RAT!"_

_Croce leaped up to his feet again and lunged toward Chuseph. He managed to connect, electrically charged teeth grazing Chuseph's good arm - leaving both of them injured, one a little more so than the other. The wound on his previously good arm crackled._

_Perhaps that was what gave Chuseph the idea of the move he would use to finish off Croce._

_"You actually got a shot in!" Chuseph said. "Not half bad. But..."_

_Chuseph fell forward onto his arms, sending forth a surge of pain. He ignored it._

_"Let's see how well you fare against my most powerful move!"_

_Chuseph lunged forward, his new body suddenly enveloped in a crackling aura of electrical power. Croce followed this pattern, amazingly enough: he too was surrounded by a less intense aura, and the two of them met halfway, tackling each other with force beyond what the two of them could handle._

_Chuseph felt a searing pain rush through his body: he had been hit with extreme force, and returned it with equal intensity, and so he knew a few ribs were broken. His arm bones snapped. He was sent flying backward and skidded uselessly._

_The last thing he heard before consciousness slipped away from him was a short conversation._

_"Boss! BOSS! You bastard, you'd done beat Boss! I'll kill ya myself!"_

_Croce's voice._

_"... Don't ... touch him ..." _

_"But Boss, he's-"_

_"I.. said... don't... touch.. him... nurse.. him..."_

_"... Why, boss?"_

_"... He is ... a mighty ... mighty warrior ... worthy of the title ... of Luxray ..."_

_

* * *

_"Oy," Gardenia said. "Looks like yer finally awake again, huh?"

Mana blinked, throwing the blurred world that she saw aside, trying to make it a clearer image. She paused for a few moments before speaking. "Yeah. Any luck finding Volkner?"

"Unfortunately not," Gardenia replied.

Mana sighed. "Then why are you here?"

Gardenia looked at her for a few moments. "It's night time, gal. It's nice to see ya worried so much, but no one can search durin' the dead of night."

* * *

_Chuseph slowly regained consciousness, looking up at the ceiling of the cave: he didn't see it. Instead, he saw a bright blue light, mixed in with a shade of black._

_"... Looks like I have friends in high places," Chuseph muttered._

_The light was the skin and fur of Croce. Chuseph recognized it immediately. It was his Magnet Rise skill._

_"You're awake. Don't try to move: we have a small search party out for some Sitrus and Cheri berries. Once we find those, you should be able to search for your human. But take it easy," he said._

_"...I'm still in one piece, right?" Chuseph asked._

_"Yes. We didn't eat any of you. Despite how... tempting it is, now that you're a bit more plump."_

...Hope those berries get here soon, _Chuseph thought._

_And they did. It only took a few more minutes for a small troupe of Luxio to come in with small branches full of berries carried in their mouths._

_Chuseph ate them eagerly. He felt his strength return: wounds mended inside of him and outside. He had the strength to sit up._

_"... Good," Croce said. "Now then. Meet us at the front of the cave when you feel you're prepared to leave. Take anything you'd like that we've got."_

_Chuseph shook his head. "No, I'm fine..."_

_"... Then come with us."_

_The group headed toward the front of the cave. The trek was barely able to be considered one, taking a grand total of ten minutes. _

_"Well then, Chuseph," Croce said. "You'll leave here with three things: The pride of knowing you are considered a warrior among warriors, the satisfaction an evolution, and a search party of three, yourself included; Ike, Drech, step forward."_

_Ike and Drech stepped forward from the crowd, eagerly nodding toward Chuseph, their tails dragging along behind them. Chuseph nodded in response, and leaned forward on his previously broken arms. _

_"Thanks, Croce," Chuseph said with a smile. "Now then: Let's go, boys!"_

_The three of them dashed off into the forest, and Chuseph felt a spark of hope._

_

* * *

_

"Release him," the voice said. "If you want your cut."

"...Why him? He owes me something," the other voice, thicker, responded.

"It's that or no deal. I've got all the money you'll ever need - don't be stupid enough to ignore the opportunity."

"...Give me time to think on it."

"Fine. You have a couple days. If me and my associate come back to this place and he is here and not in a hospital, forget it. Don't be stupid."

Saturn smiled, as the two walked away. He was surprised to see the other boy who had been there; the hostage. It was a refreshing thing though, as, when Captain Giggles walked away, Saturn unhooked the gun from his belt...

... and felt a crashing pain in his stomach. He released the gun reflexively, and dropped to his knees.

"Don't act like you don't remember me, Saturn," Cyrus muttered, watching as his Murkrow came back over to his side. "And don't even think about hurting me. I'll bring the proof of my wealth next time... remember: don't be stupid."

Mars giggled. "Rather stupid in the first place, isn't he?"

"Quite."

The two walked away, and Saturn scowled, slowly pulling himself to his feet. "...You better not be lying, Giggles."

"It's Cyrus."

"...Cyrus."


	18. Intermission II: Sacrifice

_Perhaps the single most frightening thing to ever happen in her life was to see that home on fire: she stepped up to it, her eyes widening further by the second until she thought that her eyeballs would pop right out of their sockets. A dainty hand was extended, grabbing fruitlessly forward with the aim of grabbing Him and pulling Him out._

She realized a couple seconds later that the idea of this happening was absurd. She rushed forward into the burning home, ignoring the sweltering heat. If she could have, she would have ignored the flames themselves and just rushed on through, not caring a bit about the burns that she would have sustained. But she ducked and dodged burning things, hearing His anguished cries and using them as motivation.

"Gahhh! Shit, shit, my face, my fucking face!"

She heard His voice. She shut her eyes, and rushed further into the flames.

"Take my hand, boy!" she exclaimed.

She felt his hand grasp onto hers after a couple of moments. It was a weak grip. She didn't care. She held out hope, stomping out the flames that covered his body, thinking only secondly about the damages. She took his now flameless body into her arms and rushed toward the door.

"FUCK YOU!" she screamed, and burst through one of the holes in the walls of the home. She let his body fall to the ground, and took a hand, brushing it against his singed yellow hair.

"C'mon, Volk," she whispered. "C'mon, Volk! You can live through this... I know you can... come on!"

"Miss Cohen, it's not going to happen."

She heard the sound of a man's voice. She whispered another tired fuck you, and continued to chant her hopes, her encouragements. She knew He could fight through this.

"Lisa!" the same voice said. "Lisa! He's dead. C'mon, we need to move."

She turned her eyes to the sky, and realized it was true. She let out one last whispered curse to the man who had done this, got to her feet, and rushed away.

Rain began to fall. It wasn't a steady progression: it was a sudden downpour, as if someone had turned on a switch and it started coming down. She was a bit frustrated at this, but a bit glad at the same time: it helped confuse people as to whether it was rain or tears that gently trickled down her cheeks.

As she moved, she heard a voice, and stopped. There was no around her. "...Huh?"

"Wake up! C'mon, wake up! Yer screamin'!"

The voice sounded oddly familiar. She shrugged it off and kept on running to the safehouse.

* * *

Lisa Cohen, also known as Mana Aname, woke up and sat bolt upright. She felt the gentle trickle of sweat down her forehead, which also felt so hot that it seemed on fire. She felt a jolt of pain in her back, and she lowered herself smoothly to the soaked bedsheets.

"'ey, girly, what was with that? You have a nightmare?"

Mana allowed herself a soft, nervous giggle. If only, she thought. If only.

"...Don't wanna talk 'bout it? Okay, that's understandable, I s'pose," Gardenia said. Mana reached out and grabbed the other girl's hand, squeezing it.

"Any luck?" she asked. She looked up at the girl earnestly, saw the downward gaze and the furrow of her brow, and knew immediately that something had to have gone wrong. She let loose a small, barely audible, gasp of breathe.

"...We've found him," Gardenia said. "...But-"

"...He isn't...?"

"He's in bad condition. Very bad. The Doctors think he might not live through the night."

Jasmine, who - up until this point - Mana had not even realized was there, spoke up. "He's next door. Whoever got him beat him up pretty badly. Broken ribs. A hairline frac-...fracture in the skull. Both his legs were virtually snapped r-r-right in tuh-two... shots luckily missed any major organs... but the intention was to kill him. And they... they might..."

"...Be successful yet," Gardenia finished. "He's been unconscious for the entire day - yeah. You've... been asleep that long. We found him yesterday."

Mana sat up. The pain rushed through her back, and she cursed quite loudly. She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Oy! Stop it!" Gardenia said.

"I wish I could," Mana said in a matter-of-fact tone. She stood up, placing her hand on the side of the bed for support, while the other rested limply at her side. Jasmine popped up out of her seat, letting that arm sling around her shoulder.

"...W-what? What're you doing?" Jasmine asked.

"The one thing I can do," Mana whispered.

"Get back in the bed, ya damned fool!" Gardenia said sternly. She pointed to the bed, but to get her point through, Mana simply lifted her middle finger in Gardenia's direction.

"...It will all be explained. Jasmine, help me to Volk's room."

"No... get back into bed..." Jasmine said.

Gardenia looked to be in shock at the gesture. She stood there, mouth open, her face a bright red. The reaction for Jasmine would be worse, and she knew this all too well. She would have to be fragile with her wording.

"Jasmine. Do it. Now. I won't hesitate to do this on my own two legs, so just help me and make things so much easier."

Jasmine paused for a few moments, then nodded. "...A-...alright."

The two of them moved slowly but surely out of the door and into the next room. Gardenia followed them after a couple of moments.

The sight of Him in that bed, attached to so many machines, including a respiration device, broke Mana's heart. She limped over to him with Jasmine's help, leaned over, and placed a kiss on his bandaged forehead.

"Pull me a chair, Jasmine," Mana said.

Jasmine did so. Mana sat down, and proceeded to tell her story.

* * *

__

Love at first sight was not the most logical thing in the world to Lisa Cohen at one time. She was a logical person, running off calculating thinking: not things that she couldn't see. Like the soul, for instance - she didn't believe in those.

But then she caught sight of a boy. He was rough, a militaryesque type of guy with ruffled yellow hair, a blue, buttoned jacket, and a pair of faded jeans. That Pikachu of his on his shoulder only increased his appeal. She lost her soul to him upon first sight.

She approached him. "...Hiya."

The boy looked at her indifferently for a moment, then extended his right hand toward her. "Hola, senorita."

"...Smooth talker, huh?" Lisa asked, allowing herself a shy smile.

"Si. Name's Volkner," he said.

"...Lisa. Lisa Cohen."

She extended her own hand, grabbing his, and he shook it firmly but with a peculiar gentleness at the same time.

"A pleasure, Miss Cohen."

She felt her smile widen considerably. Volkner smiled back.

* * *

  
_  
Lisa Cohen rapped lightly on the wooden door. She waited for a few moments, then waved as the door opened to the familiar, blue-eyed face._

"Lisa!" Volkner said. "Wasn't expecting you... c'mon in."

Lisa and Volkner stepped inside. The two of them sat down in the living room.

"So what'd you come over for?" Volkner asked.

"Ah, nothing important," Lisa lied. "I just wanted to see you."

"That so? I mean, I knew I had charm, but not that much."

Lisa giggled. "Volkner Denzi, I was kind of hoping to ask you to go to dinner and go see a movie with me, but I guess I shouldn't go with someone so vain, huh?"

"Oh. Certainly you should. What fun is someone who isn't?"

Lisa thought about it for a moment. "...Touche."

The two of them burst out laughing.

"And I thought you were a man, Denzi. I suppose I'll call you 'Boy' from now on. More fitting."

"And I suppose I'll call you 'Girl', then."

"Or you could call me girlfriend."

"Girlfriend it is."

* * *

_  
"So, Volk," Lisa said. "What were you like as a kid? I'm kinda curious."_

"Rude, a brat, and overall snotty."

"That so?"

"Indeed it is. I'm somewhat glad I'm out of that phase - I was angsty, and even abused Pokemon some."

Volk's Pikachu leaped down from his shoulder, turning around. "You see that scar on his back?"

Lisa's mouth opened wide. There was a long, white scar running through the Pokemon's fur.

"I made it," Volkner said.

"Why...?" Lisa asked, gasping.

"He wouldn't listen to me." Volkner's voice was thin, his eyes glancing toward the ground.

"...I think Chuseph forgives you," Lisa said. "Otherwise he wouldn't have evolved into a Pikachu."

Volkner nodded. "Yeah. But I... I still regret it to this day."

Lisa allowed herself a kind smile. This always seemed to calm Volkner down a bit. "Then that's good. If you regret it, it won't happen again."

_"Did you hear the news, Volk?" Lisa asked as she stepped through his doorway, out of the rain. She shut her umbrella, and set it next to the door._

"Yeah..." Volkner's voice was thin for the first time in a while. He was not sad, like last time - she caught hints of anger in his voice. "This is tragic. Who could destroy... an entire -region- so easily?"

Lisa nodded slowly. "Horrible. No one can stop this guy... not with... who he controls."

"His next target is Johto. I feel it."

Lisa leaned in, giving Volkner a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Let's not worry about it, though. I'm sure I'm just over-exaggerating - SOMEONE can stop him."

Volkner nodded. "Yeah- me."

_

* * *

_

"Volk is dead," Lisa thought. "There's no turning back. Oh god, volk is dead, Lisa, it's no use going on - he's dead, oh GOD, oh GOD-"

"Calm yourself."

A voice in her head, Lisa realized, had said that. She hadn't heard it with her ears. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?"

"Do you want to save the one you love?" the voice continued.

"...He's dead. I c-...cuh-cuh-can't..."

"Yes you can." This was a second voice. Lighter, more kindhearted. "If you accept the offer to."

"I'll accept anything!" Lisa cried.

The two popped up in front of her. She grabbed their tiny hands - one green, one pink.

"Good." They spoke in perfect unison, sending shivers down her spine. "The spirit inside you is strong. You will do anything. We will assist you: we will do for you a great favor... as long as you do us one first."

Lisa Cohen smiled sadly, and allowed the darkness to take her over.

* * *

  
"... Mana is the concept of spirit inside inanimate objects. I considered myself inanimate - without Volkner. Aname is a simple combination of 'A' and 'name'. My real name is Lisa Cohen... and I'm here to make sure Volkner gets his wish. That's mine."

She whistled a slow, melodic tune.

Seconds later, the leafy green Pokemon, with its wide eyes and tiny appendages, appeared at Lisa's side. "...Find Chuseph. He was released."

"_Chuseph was who brought him here. Along with a Luxio._"

Lisa glanced toward the desk next to Volkner's bed, and she nodded. Three Pokeballs rested atop it - two cracked, one in perfect shape.

"_Are you sure you want me to do this?_"

"Celebi, I've never been more sure in my life. Healing Wish. Then Baton Pass it to me."

Celebi began to glow a bright shade of pink. The Pokemon then extended its tiny, glowing paw to Lisa, who grabbed it and held it firm. The pink energy began to channel to her, covering her in a bright aura. She used her free hand to touch Volkner. He too began to glow this shade, but mixed in with this was a lighter blue.

Lisa felt her muscles grow weaker. Pain rushed through her body. She fell to the floor, one hand still firmly dug into Volkner's skin by her fingernails. But in a few moments, those dragged off too. She heard the sound of Volkner moving, the sound of voices calling out for help, and she ignored them all.

"...Volkner can never know," she whispered. She wasn't sure if she could be heard, but she had to try. She felt the blackness begin to envelope her.

She was happy.

Lisa Cohen died with a smile on her face.


	19. For Sinnoh

**SINNOH STORIES  
THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**  
**Chapter 16**: For Sinnoh

"She will be returned to her original time," Celebi stated. "Only the three who currently know her story will remember her. I'm sorry."

"What?" Gardenia choked out. "Forget that!"

She moved toward the door, opening it and beginning to scream. "Hey, we need a fuckin' crash cart here guys, c'mon, someone, help her out, C'MON, SOMEONE!"

But there was no response. Gardenia screamed for help, screamed 'till her lungs seemed to deflate, but it was as if she and the others were invisible to the outside world. The doctors and nurses strolled on by, paying no mind to the sweating, red-faced girl in the doorway. Finally, Gardenia gave up, and turned back inside.

She was met with the sight of a stunned Jasmine, first off. The girl merely stood in the corner, her face a pale shade as if the very life had been drained out of her as well. Gardenia shrugged off this mental comparison; she didn't need any more thoughts of loss of life.

Volkner now sat up, staring around the room in an obvious confusion. His blue eyes seemed to echo a peculiar sense of knowing. He looked down to see the sight Gardenia focused upon next: the collapsed form of Lisa Cohen, and the leafy green Pokemon called Celebi floating above it.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you. She has no information in this time: she is a face that will never be identified. For her to die with you three around will mean a certain holdup in the plans; these plans that she sacrificed her life to continue."

Celebi floated down toward Lisa, and placed a hand on her body. The two of them began to glow a bright blue, Lisa lifting up slightly.

"Biii!"

The two of them were enveloped by a swirling blue mass of energy and then disappeared.

* * *

_  
two days later_

The three of them stood outside of Veilstone City, each with solemn looks on their faces. Volkner had gotten the situation explained to him: since that moment, he had been in some sort of state of shock, where he refused to speak. Gardenia found this not surprising in the least.

"I suppose we don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Gardenia asked. "We're all in this together now."

Volkner allowed himself a nod. Gardenia saw fierceness in his blue eyes, and she allowed herself a crooked smile.

Jasmine spoke, stepping forward. "Yes. For Lisa."

She extended a hand forward.

Gardenia placed her own on top of Jasmine's. "For Lisa."

Volkner's own hand seemed to hesitate, but it sent itself forward, resting on top of the others. He spoke for the first time since yesterday, his hands clenching around the other two's, one in each. "Listen, you two. I could give less of a damn about her. This is not for her. This is for Sinnoh. This is for the world of the future. Fuck, the world sucks now, but with Cyrus at its head, it would suck even more. So this is for the world. I could give less of a damn about this future chick who had a crush on a future me."

Gardenia felt a pang of anger, her face flushing a bright red. She glared angrily at him. But she knew they were the best words that she was going to get. She let loose a formidable sigh, and eyed the cross they had nailed into the ground. It remained markless. They had not given it a name, nor a corpse to rest beneath it.

She knew that both sides were right. They were in this too far now to turn back - they could no longer walk away without risking their conscience and possibly other lives. But this wasn't just for this woman from the future. This was for the world.

This was for Sinnoh.

Volkner crossed his gloved hands against his chest, pressing both black jacket and green t-shirt against its thin, bony frame. He turned his head to the side, glancing out into the distance.

Gardenia decided it would be best to speak up as the leader of their ragtag group. "Alright. So we need to come up with a plan. Volkner, do you still have Cyrus registered on your cell?"

Volkner nodded slowly.

"Call him then."

Volkner took out his cell phone, pressed a few numbers, and pressed the device against his ear.

* * *

Cyrus stopped in the middle of his path, reaching into his pocket. "Forgive me, Mars. Seems I've got a call."

Mars nodded swiftly, her red hair bouncing. "Of course."

Cyrus flipped his phone open, and pressed it against his ear. "Who might this be?"

"Volkner," the voice said.

Cyrus let a thin smile cross his lips. So Volkner had come crawling back to life so soon. He supposed he should have expected it, but it still surprised him a bit. What surprised him more than anything was the fact that Volkner was calling in the first place: after their barfight-esque brawl, he had never expected to hear from him again. "Volkner. How can I help you?"

There was quiet for a moment. Then Volkner spoke up again, his voice filled with an obvious amount of annoyance. "I want to meet up with you. You want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because nunya. Will we meet or not, Cyrus?"

Cyrus's smile widened. Same old, same old. "Your attitude is less than desirable, Volkner. You hold a lot of repressed anger toward the world. With what you've been through, that's reasonable."

"Don't even try the fuckin' sales pitch, Cyrus," Volkner groaned.

"...But with the Galactic Gang, you could use that anger. That hatred toward the current world: me and you could mold it into a desirable place."

"What the hell did I just say? Fuckin' A, Cyrus."

Cyrus's smile faded. "I'm sorry, Volkner, unless you plan on joining with me, I'm too busy for a reunion of old friends." Cyrus removed the phone from his ear, and prepared to flip it shut. Then he heard it.

"I do want to join you. I just don't want the sales pitch, dumbfuck. You've given it to me before."

Cyrus pressed the phone against his ear again. "Where would you like to meet, then?"

Volkner was silent for a moment, probably thinking about it, before speaking. "Sendoff Spring. It's a route-"

"I know where Sendoff Spring is, 'dumbfuck'," Cyrus mused. "Fine. Good choice. We can be uninterrupted there. Wait there. I'll be there in three hours."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_four hours later  
_  
'One would expect Cyrus to be a little more punctual than this,' Volkner mused mentally. His ETA had been about an hour ago. He tapped his foot on the rocky ground impatiently. The area around them was humid. Volkner was sweating profusely. But he could care less about that - he was more worried about getting to Cyrus and then getting the hell out of dodge.

Gardenia and Jasmine were in hiding, but close by. He supposed it was for the best. He didn't want them interfering in this fight. He wasn't concerned for their safety or anything, he was just concerned that they might get in his way. People tended to do that in more recent days. Get in his way, fuck up the plans he had made for himself.

Just as he was going on a mental tangent on the subject, two faces stepped in sight. The familiar, smiling face of Cyrus and a less familiar, but still recognizable face with red hair hiding the eyes: Marsha, also known as Mars.

"It's been a while, Volkner," Cyrus said. "I've honestly missed you a bit."

Volkner jumped, slamming his fist forward. His punch missed, Cyrus moving his head to the side. Volkner had lost his element of surprise and this meant this wasn't going to be an easy brawl. Cyrus thrust his arm forward, delivering a firm punch toward Volkner's gut, winding him. But Volkner wasn't going to let that stop him. He pulled up his knee, pushing it into Cyrus's stomach, allowing both of them some time to fall back and recover.

Mars, in the mean time, sat back with a bemused smile. "Tag me if need be, Cyrus."

Cyrus didn't respond to her, instead moving toward Volkner again. He aimed an uppercut toward Volkner's chin, but Volkner hopped back to dodge it, causing Cyrus to stumble out of balance. He used this opportunity to punch Cyrus directly in the nose. Cyrus purposefully lowered his head, taking it in the forehead instead and causing Volkner to feel a pang of pain, drawing his hand back.

"Heh, not half bad, Cyrus! But you're gonna have to do better than that!"

"Shut up, Volkner! I knew you weren't telling the truth - I don't have time for distractions like you! I'm going to take you out, here and now!"

Cyrus ran forward, his elbow extended. He drove it into Volkner's chest, sending Volkner toppling backward. He took the opportunity, falling with him, slamming his fist into Volkner's face. Volkner felt another rush of pain, cartilage giving way. Blood spurted out of his nose, coming into his mouth, but he ignored it. He ignored the pain now going throughout him in steady pulsations. He moved all his strength into his arms and flipped Cyrus over, crashing their foreheads together. Then he rolled off of him and the two of them lay there, recovering from the sudden head injury.

Cyrus recovered first. He leaped up to his feet, slamming his foot downward toward Volkner's gut. Volkner rolled over to dodge it, and allowed a second kick to come close - only to grab Cyrus's leg with all of his strength and feel him fall. Volkner leaped up to his feet only to fall down again, but on purpose, delivering a firm drive into Cyrus' stomach with his elbow.

"GUH- m-ma...mars..."

Volkner looked up to Mars, who grinned from ear to ear. She seemed all to eager to join into the brawl.

Suddenly, the tension in the area was directed toward an odd galloping sound coming from a short distance. Footfall hitting the ground in a steady rhythm was a peculiar, unnatural sound in these barren areas. They were mostly inhabited by slow Pokemon, Volkner had observed - Graveler, Golem, and of course the flying types who had made nests, like Staravia. This was fast.

The source was revealed. Stopping in front of Volkner and turning around to face Mars was a Luxray, waving its tail behind it, letting loose a low, guttural growl. Volkner stood up, allowing himself a grin. Carefully, he moved one arm up and wiped away the blood from his mouth, avoiding touching his nose. He imagined it was tender to the touch.

"I take it you're on my side, Luxray?" Volkner asked, recalling the story Gardenia had told him of the Luxio that had, along with Chuseph, carried him to the hospital. He had gotten some conflicted emotions about this, but he supposed now was not the time to doubt things. He would wonder just what the hell was going on later.

"...Grrr... Lux! Luxxxx!"

"I'll take that as a yes."

Marsha nodded to Volkner. "Alright, fine! You want a battle, you have a battle!"

"I wouldn't worry about Volkner," Jasmine's voice interfered.

"Definitely not. I think ya got other problems, girly. Volkner, take care'a Cyrus. Tie 'im up with yer belt or somethin'. We'll render this girly powerless, and off to Veilstone PD we go."

Volkner nodded. He slipped off his belt, moving toward Cyrus and purposefully driving his knee into his stomach, pinning him down. He tightly looped his belt around Cyrus's arms, and nodded toward Luxray. "Alright, Luxray. Get him onto your back."

"Stop it!" Mars cried, her eyes wide. She realized just how badly this was going. "You don't have charges on him anyway! He's done nothing wrong!"

"I'd beg to differ," Jasmine said. "Veilstone Police Department takes assault charges pretty serious, I hear."

"But he was provoked!"

"Two witnesses, and the victim can all state otherwise."

Mars scowled. She removed a Pokeball from her belt, releasing a Bronzor: it instantly let loose a forceful confusion blast. Gardenia, Jasmine and Volkner were all sent sprawling backward, and by the time they got up again, Mars was running. Fast.

"Gardenia! Jasmine! Stay here with Cyrus!"

Volkner fell onto Luxray's back, nodding. "Sorry if I'm any heavy. But let's go! We need to chase her!"

On cue with Volkner's words, Luxray dashed off. Volkner felt the wind rush around him, and he let loose a cry of excitement, partially from the adrenaline rush in his veins, partially from simple excitement of the chase. He saw Mars dive behind a rather nicely sized rock just as Luxray was closing in. He was forced to leap over, making Volkner hold on tight to the Pokemon's fur. She used the time it took for Luxray to turn to jump on top of this rock, using it as leverage to get to higher ground.

Luxray followed suit, with two simple jumps. Mars continued to run, but it was of no avail: within a few minutes, Volkner had his hand on her shirt, holding her back. He leaped off Luxray, forcing his knee into her back, pinning her down to the ground. He finally removed his jacket and tied its arms tight around her wrists, binding them together.

"Jesus H. Christ," he murmured. "Did you really think you could get away from a hundred pound electric lion? Oh, an a Luxray."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Veilstone Police Department took one look at the bloody form of Volkner, took into mind that it was the word of three versus the word of two, and nodded to him. They would keep these two in a cell 'till a trial date, but they had best keep in the city until then, if they wanted to win the case.

They had no such intentions. They knew that this was just a stall, to prevent Cyrus from progressing any further while they thought up a more active Galactic-resistance system. It hadn't even been the original plan.

"You know, you could have gotten killed out there," Gardenia chided. "I'm pissed. We could'a gotten him for so much more than just assault, if you'd GONE BY THE PLAN and tried to leak some sort of important detail out of him."

"Sorry," Volkner admitted. "I just saw his ugly mug and felt it needed a bit of rearranging."

Outside, Luxray was waiting for Volkner. The Pokemon nudged his backpack, and oddly enough, Volkner understood. He removed a Pokeball from it, pressed the center switch, and a beam of red light sucked Luxray in. There was no struggle. He clipped the Pokemon's ball to his belt, sighing.

_At least the lummox accepts his role as a tool, _Volkner thought.

Volkner was in the hospital for about three days. The fact that he was back just a day after his initial release amazed hospital staff - either hospitals attracted this boy, or he attracted hospitals. Either way, he was probably going to get himself killed soon if he kept up this schedule, doctors mused.

Finally, the group of three stood outside the gates of Veilstone City.

"Ten more days 'til Cyrus's trial. I guess we got some good time. Still wish ya would have followed the goddamn plan, though."

Volkner grinned with amusement. "As if."

* * *

Well, here we go! Chapter 16 of Sinnooh Stories - The Legend of Volkner!

On a side note, I think my brain is going to start leaking out of my ears now. I've updated three out of my four projects this weekend - one of them twice.

Jesus Christ, it was fun, though.

Enjoy!


	20. Wave of Change

**SINNOH STORIES**

**THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER**

Of course Volkner was glad that Cyrus was in jail. He needed some time to heal from his injuries; Cyrus, that was. He grinned at his snark of a thought, stepping forward through the brambles, listening to the sounds of the two girls trotting behind him.

He wanted him out as soon as possible, though. Volkner had set the plan awry on purpose, because he knew that the conclusion of their fight would be unsatisfactory if they had just... ended it then and there. He wanted to train and make sure that things went just perfectly.

He could envision the battle in his head. It was a mix of flashing lights and flying fists, of screaming names and curses, of flesh cut, bones broken and blood drawn. It sent his adrenaline flowing through his veins like a bullet train. He knew it was selfish. He knew it was dangerous.

But guess what? He didn't give a damn.

CHAPTER 17: The Wave of Change

Pastoria City was a large city which meant the world to Volkner. He felt a longing here that was unfamiliar to him, making him shut his eyes every few moments as he walked through its streets. They were crowded with people, leaving him only a few moments to do so. Memories of home filled his head. The salty smell of the sea.

The stench of the sailors and their broads; probably cheating on their wives. The stench of death and crime. The city of dreary darkness he oh-so-lovingly called home.

He shook his head to remove the thoughts. Olivine City was not his home anymore. He would never return. He slipped a hand into his pocket and continued to walk the streets. He nodded toward Jasmine who trotted along beside him.

"I suppose we can get lunch. Where's this 'so amazing d-duh-diner, Volkner', Jasmine?"

"Follow me," she said. She flashed him a quick smile.

Volkner froze for a moment at the sight of it, before nodding again, keeping on with his strut, following her closely. Gardenia wasn't following them, instead opting to see the sights of Pastoria on her own.

So the two of them sat down at a street-side store set up in bar fashion, stools set up in front of a bar with a bunch of people working behind it.

"Hello!" a man said, approaching them. "How can I help you?"

"Hi," Jasmine said. "Me and my friend will just have the daily special. On a bit of a budget..."

"Got'cha!" The man then moved back toward the back of the place, whispering something to the cooks in the back.

"So, uhm... Volkner. How are you?"

"Fine," he muttered.

"...Oh. Good. Me too. Nice day out, isn't it?"

"I guess."

"...Uhm, yeah. You hungry?"

"Not really."

"...Well, I guess better eat lunch now than starve later!"

Volkner frowned. "Uh-huh."

They sat and waited for their food in silence. Then they ate it in silence as well, up until their last few bites.

"Tell me something, Jasmine."

"Yes, Volkner...?"

"Do you miss Olivine?"

"Sometimes... why?"

Volkner grinned. "I want to ask you the same thing."

"Olivine is my home. It's where my family waits. It's where I grew up and want to continue growing up."

"...I gotta admit, your optimism can get really annoying, but I'm jealous of it." Volkner finished the last bites of his food, and waited for Jasmine to do the same.

"Alright, we're headin' to the Pokemon Center," Volkner said. "I'm ready to just cash in for the day. Come with me."

"But-"

"Come."

"...Fine."

The two of them strutted through the streets of Pastoria, until a sudden curve in the path led them to a quiet, damp alleyway. Volkner shut his eyes and did what his heart told him.

Jasmine felt a surge of panic as Volkner dragged her to the side into an empty alleyway, pinning her against the wall. Her panic was not fearful; it was simply anxiety of what she knew was about to happen. She felt his breath hot against her neck, and moments later his lips against it. She tilted her head back against the wall and exhaled. She let her body's urges take over, drawing Volkner in close to her.

The two repositioned themselves and allowed their minds to disappear. They slipped their lips over each other and kissed with fervent passion.

The next day passed in a blur for Volkner, leaving his mind in a mushy mess. Jasmine and Volkner avoided each other: Gardenia couldn't seem to get their group together in one piece. Eventually, they all gave up, Jasmine and Gardenia getting their own room at the Pokemon Center for the night and Volkner getting his own.

He slept the night through with no dreams in his memory. But he woke up sweating, his muscles relaxed and his lower body throbbing. He groaned as he realized what he had done in his sleep.

"Jesus Christ, the hell is wrong with me?" he mused.

He got up and took a shower, then dressed himself and headed out the door for breakfast. He slipped past the duo of Jasmine and Gardenia on their way down themselves, rushing to get something to sit outside and eat. He would only reunite with the duo when he absolutely had to.

But the absolutely had to part came quicker than he wanted it to. He sat outside with an sausage and egg biscuit, nibbling on it, his thoughts elsewhere, when Gardenia stepped outside and sat down next to him. Jasmine followed suit, her face covered with a thin smile and a dim shade of red.

"So, what're we doin' ta'day," Gardenia asked. "I hear there's a good place north'a here. Called the Great Marsh. Buildin' some sort of Safari Zone thing there, but there's a certain sector of it that's free for civilian entry. Lots'a wild Pokemon."

Volkner nodded. "...I suppose so. A chance to test out this Luxray."

Jasmine nodded her agreement, and it was set: they were off to the 'Great Marsh'.

The Great Marsh was in no way a misnomer. This place, in the "small" public sector, was gigantic and most definitely a marsh. Volkner had to walk around with his jeans rolled up to his knees, the mud and the bug Pokemon crawling through it getting onto his lower body and enjoying the heck out of the ride. Volkner wasn't quite sharing the feeling.

But at the end of the day, Volkner supposed, it was a good experience. He continued to trudge through the muck, baring it with clenched teeth.

He pulled himself out of one such section of swamp, when he was pushed down to the ground again by a sudden, unexpected weight on his back. He felt fur brush up against his neck.

He swore, feeling his backpack slip out of his grip, swiped by some sort of odd, leathery arm, a stark contrast to the furry body of the creature. He flipped himself over onto the wet grass, staring at the creature that had his backpack in hand.

"Pom!" it cried. "Aiiiiiya!"

Volkner recognized it immediately. It was a small creature with a furry, purple body, large eyes staring at him. In its hands was... absolutely nothing. But resting on its tail, which was a spitting image of a gloved human being's hand, was his backpack.

The creature called Aipom stuck his tongue out at him, closing all of his tail-fingers around one strap of Volkner's back backpack except for its middle one. Volkner scowled. Smart little ape. He reached down to his belt, unhooking one of the Pokeballs. He didn't look to see which. He didn't care.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, tossing his arm forward, pressing his thumb against the release switch of the Pokeball. He felt it open in his hand, sending forth a flash of white light, which materialized into the form of Jolteon on the ground.

"Joool!" the Pokemon cried, his fur puffing out. He growled lightly at the Aipom in front.

"Jolteon, careful," Volkner warned, "it's a rough terrain around here, and our ape pal seems to be an expert at navigating it. Hit it with a Pin Missile!"

Jolteon's fur puffed out again, glowing a shade of lime green. Some thin missiles of hardened fur burst forward, pelting Aipom's chest. The Pokemon swiped the needles with his stub of an arm, then narrowed his eyes when he realized that it had broken the needles off; part of them still stuck in his chest.

He leaped forward, swiping his tail-hand toward Jolteon. Jolteon was hit with a faceful of books, glass vials that shattered upon being hit so forcefully, and other assorted items. He fell to the ground, skidding a few inches before picking himself up on already-shaky legs.

"Alright," Volkner said. He frowned, realizing that the potions in his backpack had broken – which probably stained the books he had recently picked up as well. "God damn it! Let's hit it with a Thundershock!"

Jolteon's fur puffed out again, sending forward a small burst of electrical power that struck Aipom directly. Volkner saw a few singed hairs, filling the place with an acrid smell just beneath the normally musky air of the marsh, but Aipom was otherwise unaffected, it seemed.

"Aiyyyyaa! Poooh!"

The Aipom then slammed Volkner's backpack. It fell into the marsh, and Volkner watched it sink with horror. He rushed over toward it, only to catch it too late – he moved too slowly through the marsh and it had sunk beyond his reach. But he did manage to snag one thing oddly buried in the mud – circular and firm. He pulled it out, and didn't even bother to look at it, figuring it to be a baseball or something. He tossed it toward the Aipom in his rage, then watched as the Pokeball he had just thrown, covered in mud and leaf fragments, bonked Aipom upside the head and sucked him in with a bright red light. The ball shook furiously, but did not open. It finally shut firmly and sat still.

He had just caught the little monkey bastard.

Volkner buried his face in his hands as the laughter from Gardenia roared through the room when he told his story. Even Jasmine giggled softly, a hand over her mouth to hide it, but to no avail.

"...Well, at least we all caught somethin', eh?" Gardenia mused. "I got a Carnivine, ya got an Aipom and Jasmine caught 'er Quagsire. Pretty bountiful harvest today. Now the only problem is gonna be getting' the money to buy you a new bag..."

Since Mana- no, Lisa- had left them, they had their source of major money taken away. They were left rather poor, barely enough money left to buy themselves the clothes and books and things they needed.

"Did someone say, 'Now the only problem is gonna be getting' the money, bla, bla...'?" a voice cried.

A man stepped in front of them, a wide smile on his face. His blue eyes pierced into Volkner, giving off mixed messages of intimidation and friendliness.

"Hi," the man said, "name's Carl." He reached up, running a hand through his slick blue hair. "Carl Winston. But my friends call me Crasher Wake – and it seems if you need money, you're my friends."

Crasher Wake had a large figure, but with his droopy shirt and pants on, Volkner couldn't tell whether this was made of fat or muscle.

Gardenia gave off a shaky smile, extending her small hand to Wake's. His swallowed hers, and Gardenia drew hers back quickly and defensively. "Hi. I'm Gardenia... this here," she said, pointing to Jasmine, "is my friend Volkner, and this here..." Now she pointed to Volkner. "...is my friend Jasmine."

"...She means I'm Volkner," Volkner said, his voice filled with mild amusement. "And the other girl is Jasmine."

"Nice to meet you beautiful young ladies – and handsome young man, of course."

Gardenia nodded, her face a bright red.

"Now you three – from your belts, well, at least you and Mr. Volkner, Ms. Gardenia, are Pokemon are trainers. Pretty easy to tell. I am too! And I'm one of the best. I used to sail with the navy, and have fought in World War II. I'll tell you two what. I'm holdin' a match later on tomorrow... for amusement! If you guys can beat me, I'll provide you with the money. This means both of you! Or all three of you, if Ms. Jasmine is a trainer as well-"

"I am," Jasmine said.

"Then that settles it! If all three of you can beat me in a one-on-one match, then I'll pay you more than enough. A thousand Pokedollars."

Volkner's jaw dropped. This man seemed to be a living second chance, having survived through World War Two: perhaps one of the harshest wars in the world's history, ending in the destruction of, as well as the cut-off of trade and restriction in visitation to, the Unova region. That had been forty years ago, though, and now one just required the money.

"Heh," Wake laughed. "I understand it's a bit shocking. But we at PastoCo, the world's largest entertainment battle corporation, are willing to do a lot for those who need it!"

Volkner spoke up. "We'll do it."

So the rest of the day was spent in training. Volkner on his own, while Gardenia and Jasmine spent their time practice battling each other.

The next day came before they knew it.

Thanks to Crasher Wake's directions, they found the building in which their match was scheduled pretty easy, that night. They stepped inside with the attitude, the smiles and the simple hope that they could win.


	21. Pastoria City Smackdown

Author's Note: I am going to go back some day and definitely change the surnames of the four main characters: Volkner Sune, Gardenia Florence (no relation to Lily Florence!), Jasmine Steele, and Cyrus , this is when I get off my ass and do it. For now, you still deal with Denzi, Mikan, whatever Gardenia's surname was, and Akagi, in the earlier chapters. I will be using the more legitimate ones from here on out.

**sinnoh stories  
the legend of volkner  
**

Volkner supposed that one of the better points of his day was when he entered the arena and he was met by press members - he was recognized from the Veilstone City incident, as well as from previous incidents such as the Windworks situation.

"Sir, how are you feeling? Up to battling already?"

"I'm a warrior at heart," Volkner had responded smugly. "If I had to walk into this place with a limp, I would have."

"But you did, sir," one fo the reporters said dryly, noting the slight limp in which Volkner had walked in with, his body still showing mild signs of damage from his fight with Cyrus. "What happened?"

Volkner merely smiled knowingly, nodding. "Of course I did. Now get out of my way. I need to get some battling done."

**Chapter 18: **Pastoria City Smackdown

Backstage, the trio of Volkner, Jasmine and Gardenia were a small do in the sea of competitor for the night's event. People were filling the place to the brim, crushing the three into a corner. Volkner sighed with annoyance. He supposed he could stand it though, for his fifteen minutes of fame.

Ten minutes later, the first match was called. A boring match between two boring trainers with boring Pokemon, Volkner observed. They had no skill, but the one with the stronger Pokemon won by a small margin. They had a short five minute break, before the next match was called:

"Our next match is: PArticipant 248, Volkner, versus Participant 027, Jeff! Will the two participants please head out to the ring?"

Mach after match passed: Volkner, Gardenia and Jasmine pushing through the amateurs they fought with ease. Some of them easier than others of course - they were newbies in the early rounds, people who wanted a good fight for experience, but the three more reasoned fighters were able to get through.

But of course, they weren't the only good guys in this pit. Good not necessarily meaning caable a winning, in some cases: but potentially capable. If it weren't for some of their more... interesting handicaps.

"Next up is... Participant 250, Gardenia, versus Participant 306, Tom! Will the two participants please come out the ring?"

Nodding toward Volkner and Jasmine, Gardenia stepped out through the crowd, rushing into the ring.

She was met with the sight of a burly man. His face was grim and ugly, rugged with five o'clock shadow. His nose was a thin shade of red, his eyes a bright blue. Amongst the stench of sweat and food, blood and drinks, Gardenia could sniff out the alcohol on his breath.

"Hello!" the man exclaimed. "My'sa namey Tom!"

"...Hi," Gardenia said.

"You'sa Gardenia, right?"

"...Right."

"We has Pokeymons bottle!"

"Battle, Tom."

"That'sa what I says! Gosh, you'sa stooped, girly, Garfield..."

"...My name is Gardenia, Tom," Gardenia deadpanned. She moved her hand down toward her belt, unhooking one of her Pokeballs and tossing her arm forward. In a flash of bright white light, a Pokemon with a large green head and bugged out eyes and a twisted green bottom that it balanced itself on. "C'mon out, Carnivine!"

"Carnival!" Tom screeched. "Demunny! AGHGHH!" He stuck his hands into the pockets of his dirty brown khakis and pulled out two Pokeballs. He tossed them both onto the floor. They sat there, but Tom ran forward, kicking them. His feet connected to the release switch of each one, but it meant his feet fell out from underneath him. He fell flat on his ***. In return, though, in twin flashes of light, two bear-like Pokemon with red bottoms and pale chests, spots of red in the seemingly random spots in the midst of the pale, tan chests and head. Their eyes did not stay still, constantly swirling around as if drunken.

"Fine," she murmured. "You want a double battle? Let's go then, Turtwig!"

Tom picked himself up. "Tommy just had drinkies!" he proclaimed proudly. "He will win tourny for big monies! Treats tooooo EBERYON!"

"Who's Eberyon, Tom?" Gardenia asked. She was clearly somewhat amused.

"EBERYONE is you! And me! And EVERYONE around! IZZZZ EVERYONE!"

"...I see," she said. She pointed forward, toward the two Pokemon she recognized as Spinda. "Turtwig, Carnivine – Carnivine, use Vine Whip and hold the Spinda on the right, then Turtwig, you use Razor Leaf and cut it into ribbons!"

"Spinydah 'n' Spineti!" Tom cried. "Try 'zat Teeter Dance! Go, goooo!"

The smell of alcohol, Gardenia realized, had increased twofold when the two Spinda got onto the field. Were they drunk too?

The two Spinda began to dance uncontrollably, weaving and winding miraculously past both of Gardenia's planned attacks. Not a single Razor Leaf hit, and the Vine Whips could not connect. She stood there, mouth wide open, awestruck.

"Awwwwright! Dojiiied, dodgieddd, dodgied! Go Spinydah! Go Spinetis! Yaahhh!" Tom cheered. "Now, Spinydah! Use dat Copy.. copy... uh..."

He stopped for a moment, pondering what the move was called, it seemed. Gardenia slapped her palm against her face, then realized that this was a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.

"Turtwig! Curse! Then use Tackle on... one of them! Carnivine, use Bind on the one that Turtwig doesn't hit!"

Turtwig shut his eyes, a light blue aura surrounding him.

At this point, Tom recalled the name. "Copy Kitty!" he exclaimed. "I mean cats! Yessy sirrs, Copppppy Cats, Spinydah! On the turtle! DEMUNNYS! It's goin' down isn't it Spineti? Bye-bye demunnys wit da PSYBEAMS! Ha ha!"

Spineti began to dance an odd dance, much odder than the one before – limbs flailing out in spastic patterns, guttural growls coming from low in her throat... and then she fell over, totally unconscious. Moments later, Spinydah followed.

The referee called out. "...Okay, then! It seems Gardenia wins by default!"

Tom scowled. "BUT MY DRINKIES MONEY! I wanna get my drinkies and watch things go FLASH on fire!... Tommy likes fire. Tommy tom tom tom, likesies his fires, yep. Burn, babby burn, discooo infreno!"

Completely content, Tom walked off stage.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Volkner looked up at the intercom, nodding as he heard his name being called. He walked outi nto the arena, looking at his opponent with odd amusement: some other amateur he assumed. His group wasn't the most experienced group of fighters in the world, but some of these guys were obviously total newbies to the field just looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. At least his group had some experience under their belts.

"Hiya!" his opponent said. She was a girl, obviously barely above the age of eight or nine. Her hair was short, just down to her ears, tucked neatly behind them. Her eyes were a bit above the average size, their adorable blue depths storing at Volkner. She was dressed in a simple, purle dress with a pair of buckled shoes. "MY name's Casey!"

"Volkner," Volkner muttered. Really? A kid? They WANTEd to make this easy for him. "Let's get this started."

"Okay!" She tossed her arm forward, her POkeball opening up, the white light that burst forth from inside mateiralizing into..

Volkner's eyes widened with shock, his jaw loosening, his mouth a gaping "O" of surrise. He recognized the Pokemon that came out very easily. It was a lummox of a Pokemon, standing in at a firm six feet, give or take a few inches. Its skin was a shining, metallic red, with a pronounced silver abdomen and buzzing metallic wings on its back.

It was the evolution of the one Pokemon in the world that feared... Scizor.

"Son of a bitch!" Volkner thought.

"Bullet Punch, Scizzy-"

"At least give me a chance to release my Pokemon!" Volkner screamed.

Csy tilted her head to the side quizzically, as if asking, "Why". But she was giving him time. Devil toddler, he mused.

He released Electabuzz, considering him to be the most ferocious fighter. Electabuzz turned to face Volkner, nodding slowly.

"Okay, then! Bullet Punch, Scizzy!"

The Scizor burst forward at speeds past ones Volkner had ever seen, dashing in front of Electabuzz and punching him square in the ja with one closed pincer, before moving backward. Electabuzz fell over, blood now trickling from broken skin on his face.

He stood up and glanced toward Volkner.

Volker looked unraged. "Jesus Christ, you couldn't see that coming? C'mon, you stupid thing, counteract with a Thunder Punch!"

he as nervous. He had a right to be, considering his past experiences with the Scyther family. But Electabuzz did not eem pleased by this treatment. He ran toward the opposing Scizor, barred his cheek like a target and slammed it right into his claw.

Volkner stood there, awestruck. The little bastard was throwing the match. He ran up to Electabuzz and grabbed him by he arm, only to have the free hand slam into his stomach. Vlkner cried out in pain. Certain injuries were still not healed; and Volkner knew now that a match wasn't the only thing Electabuzz was afraid to throw

He let the Pokemon's arm loose. "Oh, god damn it!"

"Language, Mister."

"SHUT UP!" Volkner roared. His mind was a blur of rage, nervousness and plain anxiety. He was going to be embarrased in front of the huge crowd, solely because his Pokemon refused to accept a little drill-Sergeant treatment. he reached into his pocket, pulling out Electabuzz's Pokeball and preparing to return him.

"Oh oh," his oponent oh-so-kindly reminded him, "if you read the rules, you know that it's one Pokemon only. Unless you want a double battle... but the Pokemon you send out is the Pokemon you use." She seemed smug, Volkner realized suddenly. He wanted to kick her around a little. But he supposed that being arrested for assaulting a little girl would put a dent in his plans.

"Fine," Volkner said, sticking the Pokeball back into his belt, "but at least let me have a moment to talk to my Pokemon."

She sighed, a snide grin crossing her lips. "Fine."

Volkner knelt in front of Electabuzz, a fierce look in his eyes. "C'mon, you little fucker. LEt's talk. OVer in the corner." He stood up and walked over to the corner. Electabuzz, with a bit of obvious reluctance, sauntered along after him.

Volkner fell to his knees in front of Electabuzz, making direct eye contact. He did not flinch at all despite the fiercely defiant gaze. He spoke slowly, carefully, choosing his words the best he could manage. With his head the way it was working at the moment, fuzzy and screaming out obscenities, it was difficult. "What's your problem?"

Of course, Electabuzz didn't respond with words: but in his own little language, a language of grunts and fists. He stuck out a finger, pointing at Volkner, before delivering another firm unch toard his gut. Volkner beared it with gritted teeth. "So I'm your problem?"

Electabuzz nodded.

"WHAT about me is your problem?"

Eelctabuzz wasn't a stupid Pokemon He was a little vilent sure, but he wasn't a barbarian. He made his fiercest possible face, turning toward the opposite way. He barked out, in what Volkner interpreted as an authoritative vice. His own. It was harsh, making Volkner flinch. Then Electabuzz turned back, making an innocent, sad and scared impression.

Volkner wasn't stupid either. Electabuzz was upset about his harsh attitude. He shut his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'll tell you what... you win this match for me, I buy you a big dinner with the payout. I'll even think up a little pet name for you - like Chuseph's."

"Ten more seconds of time allowed!" the referee cried. "Challenger Volkner will be disqualified if more time is used!"

Electabuzz nodded and ran back toward the center of the ring. Volkner gave up a thumbs up to no one in articular, then followed Electabuzz.

"You finally ready?" Casey asked.

Volkner nodded. "Let's go, girly!"

"Scizzy, use Slash!"

"Electabuzz, don't let it hit you! Counterat with whatever you can!" Volkner cried, and watched as Electabuzz lowered himself to the ground, pushing himself forward and performing a low, sliding kick. Scizzy the Scizor leaped into the air to avoid the attack, pening one of his pincers and pushing it downward: with visciousness in his eyes that made Volkner convinced that its intent wasn't to win, but to eviscerate Electabuzz. He felt his heart skip a beat, his muscles tensing up, but then felt them loosen as Elecabuzz reached up, grabbing the steely red arm, and slamming him to the side. Then, relentlessly, he lifted up Scizzy once again, slamming him toward the other side: he repeated this arc-like motion three more times before finally letting go, and stood over the unconscious steel-tye, panting heavily. He walked up to VOlkner, then offered his hand.

Volkner, utterly shocked, took it and shook it: then grunted as a fist was delivered to his stomach.. He was feeling like he was going to robably going to need a doctor by the time this little tournament was over. Or maybe he would ust buy that promised dinner and eat a little of it himself. he didn't know: everything around him was sort of confusing right now.

* * *

Jasmine Steele walked onto the field, a strong conviction in her heart. This was an odd feeling to her, but she had been feeling quite odd recently anyway. Ever since she and Volkner... Well, he was cute. She had to admit that. He was a stark contrast to her timid, shy personality; he being a loud, obnoxious jerk. But every girl had a bad boy phase, she supposed, so there was not anything wrong with her having feelings for him. Was there?She shook herself out of this thoughtful trance, and glanced at her opponent. A sir Alexander, the announcement had said. He was tall, his eyes an intimidating force, keeping her from direct eye contact. He had a head of blue hair, neatly combed downward, though she had a feeling that if she walked up to him and pressed it upward, it would bounce into a u-shaped spectacle. He wore a tight silver vest, with a pair of jeans beneath that.

"Alexander Columbia," the man said.

His words were fast, like that of an auctioneer's, Jasmine mused. Perhaps he just wanted to get this over with. She did not blame him."Jasmine Steele," she responded.

"Whenever the participants are ready, they may begin!" the announcer said.

Jasmine looked at Alexander, nodding politely. "Whenever you're ready."

The man instantly flashed his hand forward, releasing a Pokemon from its circular, half-red half-white hiding place. She recognized it as an Alakazam, standing tall with pointy ears, a mustache-like projection of hairs coming from its narrow snout, the rest of its body thin: which was not a surprise. Alakazam were not known for their physical powers, but for their mental ones. She prepared to remove her own Pokeball, when her arm refused to move. She tried to move her other one, only to find that paralyzed too: a strike of fear hit her. Perhaps she was having some sort of stroke? She tried to speak, and found that capability, while supressed to a mere whisper, still functional. "...I c...can't..."

A voice entered her head. "We're getting you out of here, Miss Steele. Alakazam, drop er."

A sudden pulsation of panic rushed through her body, her muscles staying in a constant contracted state, her nerves being shot down one-by-one, each strike being an agonizing wave of pain. She didn't know what was going on. She could not think straight. Her mind was a melting mush at the hands of her torturer, and she felt consciousness slowly begin to slip away."We're losing her, Alakazam. Keep her conscious. Come, Jasmine Steele- time for you to introduce me to a friend of yours..."

Suddenly, she was brought back to this tortured reality. She cursed it. She felt herself be picked up by the arm, and within moments, the sights of the surrounding arena disappeared: she was instead met by the sights of a shocked, wide-eyed Volkner Sune.

Volkner stared at Jasmine for what felt like hours. He saw her face contorted in pain, her limbs limp, her skin a pale, sweaty white. She was pleading with him with her eyes; after a while, his glance moved up to the person holding her. He recognized it in an instant."My Alakzam is quite proficient with torture, wouldn't you think so, boy?"

"Let... her go..." Volkner whispered. His anger was rising to the point of where he felt like he was going to burst. He had her. He really did. He wondered briefly why he was even here, but he supposed that didn't matter to hm- he was here, and holding Jasmine, so he was going to die. "Jupiter, if you don't let her go right this fuckin' minute, I will wring your neck!"

_Author's Note (end): Boo. Yes, I wrote myself into something I really didn't want to write, so I changed it up a bit to come out with this! Any questions as to motives for this will come next chapter. For now, I leave you all on a cliff hanger. MUAHAHA. :3_

_By the way. Tom is a character used with permission from bobandbill, and his story "The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum"._


	22. Chapter 22

I really don't know how to say this. It's actually somewhat difficult, despite it being positive. I'll start with this: this story is dying. There's no denying that. My last few updates have been far and few between, the quality (at least in my mind) has been slowly degenerating, and I have been quickly losing my ideas and my will to write for it.

So, as of today, "Sinnoh Stories – The Legend of Volkner" is cancelled.

But this is for the better. I have long since been slowly losing my interest in this story, because of all the twists and turns I threw in – things thrown in because I wanted to take the lazy way out of certain plots, and continued only for the sake of continuity. I'm not going to lie. The story, the way it's heading at the moment? I hate it. But I don't want it to die.

But Ian! You said this was positive! How is that positive?

Simple, voice in my head. It will be started up again, under the new name of "Rebirth of Sinnoh – Volkner's Tale". Once again, why start it up new? Because this version will not only be a revised version of the original, but it will contain all new content, and it will remove some old content. I can guarantee two things: one, the premise of the story will be the same. Two, the characters will be the same – jerkish Volkner, excitable Gardenia and her accent, Jasmine and her shy demeanor, the mysterious Mana... all of the main characters will not be going anywhere. But other than these two guarantees, content will have the very high chance of being radically different.

I will be working on this very hard, and can guarantee one other thing: a release date!

The prologue and first chapter of "Rebirth of Sinnoh – Volkner's Tale" will be released on August 15th, 2011! Looking forward to seeing you guys again!


End file.
